Spiral Tailed
by lumenatrum
Summary: Naruto begins feeling the effects of a plan the kyuubi started. As time passes how will it turn out and what effect will it have on Naruto? Lies and misconseptions will bring the end of a would be hero. Dark Naruto naru/tayu
1. Good decisions?

A/N this is Lumenatrum here with a new idea. For those of you who like ordeals of a yokai and wish for me to continue I would like to hear from you.

For those of you who enjoy reading this new story I would like to hear from you also.

This is a dark naruto/narutayu story so if you don't like those stories time to leave.

Romance will be light.

Talking

_Thinking_

_Naruto's interior monologues_ (A/N his thoughts at a certain time)

**_Kyuubi's words_**

**Jutsu**

Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto series. That's it, if you didn't get it your problem.

Now, with nothing left to say, on to the story!

* * *

Good decisions?

_That bastard. That god damned bastard. He had it all in the village. Anything and everything, yet he left. The bastard left last night. He hurt Sakura. He left me without a friend. _

_I don't see why we have to save him. It was his decision._

_No, he is their precious last Uchiha and they want him for security. They fear too much in that village. My village. They fear me too much in my village. I am the object of their fear, their hate. They don't want me; they want him._

_They want me dead. They want to see me breathe my last breath. Just because of this damn demon __**they**__ put inside me. I want to make them pay for the suffering I faced all these years. I want to make them bleed the blood I spilled for the and because of them. Every single one of them will bleed!_

_Ugh! My head! The pain. _

* * *

The morning after the escape of the Uchiha, Tsunade called on Naruto and Shikamaru to form a team to find and retrieve the escapee. The jonin were gone for the moment and that meant they could only rely on their friends. Upon finding Kiba, Neji, and Choji, they set off with Sakura looking on as they left.

There was an uneasy silence on the pursuit. None desired to talk, or chose not to for fear of what the others would think of them breaking the silence. But one couldn't take it.

"So Sasuke just went up and left?" Kiba started, turning back to make sure they were out of earshot. "Can't say I'm surprised. He always seemed to want to leave." The other didn't speak a reply but there was a mutual agreement in mind. Even Naruto agreed, the only one who would have been on the rebuttal's side. This put off the others, they were sure that he would have disagreed. They noticed from the start there was a change in their friend. He was too quiet for the most part; even more surprising was that he even looked like he didn't want to be on the mission. This was to save his friend, so, why was he so not there? They all suspected for him to be ranting about how this was not Sasuke's decision.

He kept quiet all the time through. It was… unusual to say the least. The loud mouth they knew was gone for the moment, and this stranger replaced him. That was until he seen their faces looking hard on his. His face brightened and took on quizitive qualities. "What is wrong, guys? Is something on my face?" The bright face made them feel as though he was alright. It was simple: he was being broody because his best friend left. There was no real need to look into it.

They should have looked into it; they shouldn't have taken that for him being fine. But what will be done, will be done.

No matter the consequence.

* * *

_If anybody should be leaving I should. The way I've been treated, the things I put up with day in, day out. He has been privileged all his life. Getting anything he wants on a whim. He could have the affection, the attention, the abilities and Sakura. But he doesn't want what they offer. What the village can give him. Blinded by the idiocy of revenge that only someone spoiled would venture on._

_Ugh…where is this all coming from?_

* * *

Unbeknownst to Naruto the Kyuubi was initiating a long formed plan. Although the final outcome of the plan was unknown to all, even it's initiator.

* * *

After taking most of the morning, the make shift team caught up to the ones who culled Sasuke to Oto's side. The sound four, Jirobo, Sakon, Tayuya, and Kidomaru, was there to stop them before they could take back Sasuke. Who, was conveniently put in a barrel for ease of transport. They all remarked it as weird and sort of comical. After time was spent to get out of a trap set by one of the four, circumstances kept separating the five. Choji was the first to leave, Neji second, Kiba fell with one of the sound four and became the third, and Shikamaru stood behind while Naruto went after a new arrival that took the barreled Sasuke.

And again Naruto showed that earlier broody, silent attitude chasing after the new transporter. He didn't do what was expected of him. Something he even expected. He did not yell or shout or rant at the new man. He charged away, and it scared him. He felt as though he lost control of his body. He was trying to shout at the man, but his mouth didn't move and no sound came. He only had a half control. He was the one who moved, who was moving his body. But only at times, he felt himself move and it wasn't by his silent command. His head would suddenly look down, his hand there in front of his face. The hand would twitch and the side of his mouth would twitch as if in a smirk. But he resisted those movements, and they ended up stopping. It still scared him though, he was moving by another's command and he had a good idea by whom.

The man he had been chasing had stopped in a clearing, dropping Sasuke. "So you chose to not give up?" the man said. Naruto, who finally gained control of his mouth and voice box, retorted "Not on your life." The man then reached behind him, sort of confusing Naruto with the action. Not removing his from his back the man returned, "Before we start I would like to tell you that he came on his own. It was his decision. Nothing else."

Naruto reached for his head, a headache, and growled to himself. Half of him told him to say it was a lie; the other wanted to say I know. The contradiction in his head made it feel like it was splitting. Why could he not get the words together? He wanted to say it was a lie; it was just he was being forced to say he knew. But there was an agreement on the words that came out his mouth "You bastard he still is a leaf ninja." The man then removed his arm from behind him pulling a sharpened bone from his back. "That was by birth, by his choosing he is a sound." The man stoically retorted.

Naruto was enraged by those words. But to Naruto it seemed as though his anger was too easy to access, more than usual. He felt pushed into the rage. And he felt pushed to attack the man. He wanted to use his trademark the kagebunshin. But he attacked, and the gap of power between the two males was gone. That was too strange for the blonde youth. He was attacking the man precisely and had more force than normal behind his hits.

The man, Kimimaru, marveled that a genin had this much strength. He wasn't this good as a child. But here the kid was hitting him with the force of two jonin combined it seemed. Even surprise attacks didn't faze the kid. He would just find an opening and then continue with his attacks. He was about to compliment Konoha when he seen the boy's eyes. They were blood red and if Kimimaru wasn't mistaken the boy had blue eyes earlier. That was not normal; therefore the boy wasn't normal. The boy was different, like him. His village had nothing to do with this, something more was to this child.

Kimimaru felt as though if the battle went for much longer, the repercussion would be his defeat. But then something happened that stopped that possibility. Sasuke didn't die in the barrel and was now running to Oto. Naruto went after him but Kimimaru could not allow that. "You're not getting past me." He said ever stoically but felt as though he was lying. But maybe, he could make it truth by going into second state. He activated the earth curse seal on his chest. His skin grew darker and his body structure changed to that of a lizard-like man. His bones now were growing out of his skin and a black pattern adorned his face.

But all in all Naruto wasn't fazed. Or, half of him wasn't fazed, but that side was showing. He grabbed Kimimaru's right shoulder with his left hand and with his right in a fist jabbed Kimimaru in the stomach. Knowledge he didn't have told him that in doing that he would inflict unconsciousness on Kimimaru. And the knowledge proved credible.

Naruto left the now limp man where he fell and went on.

Some time later Kimimaru's disease took him because he never left his cursed state.

* * *

Naruto was now running after the fleeing Sasuke and mentally freaking out at the same time. That knowledge he knew he did not have. He then focused on his actions of late. He wasn't acting himself; he was being entirely different. And he was being pushed, he knew that much, by something. But what he didn't know. Or did he? He had the sneaking suspicion that this was his resident's fault. But how, that was the next thought. How was he doing this?

Resent events plagued the blondes mind. And it was easy to get enraged by them. Sasuke's defection, his own loss of control over his body and each and every hitch and their consequence in the retrieval of said Uchiha, these events made Naruto infuriated. And something inside him wanted him to let it all out.

Naruto then felt pulled by something. His vision became blurry, he seen himself move in front of him. Then his clone in a sense looked back at him and had a wide toothy smirk. Naruto felt the intent from his stationary position. He was moving to kill Sasuke! He couldn't let that happen, not when he promised Sakura. He had to get moving before he got to Sasuke. But there was no movement. He was in a sprint that went nowhere.

But he kept on until he felt a tremendous breath behind him. He turned to see this cage resident, the Yoko No Kyuubi. Upon sight he couldn't hold it any longer and to his surprise he had to ability to do it. He shouted at the demonic beast. "What the hell have you been doing!? Why the hell can't I control myself at times!?" The Kyuubi then did a smirk that resembled the one his 'clone' did earlier. The fox then spoke in a tremendous voice only a demon could have "_**Why boy, I didn't think you would know it was me! You always seemed too dense to understand things like that.**_" It laughed as though the last statement was a hilarious joke. "_**I must be rubbing off on you. Or well, in this case into you.**_" It laughed again. Naruto was perplexed and horrified at what that could have meant.

Then the beast continued, "_**I'm testing a plan of mine. What a grand plan it has turned to be too! Look around you, I want to see if you can get it on your own.**_" Naruto looked at the sewer that was his mind. What he saw shocked him to the core. The Kyuubi's chakra was seeping out of its cage and cutting into the walls that were around him. The walls must have led somewhere vital to him, vital to his being and his mind. He looked back at the Kyuubi and said in an almost questioning voice, "You're taking control of me." The fox looked at him, not bad for a first guess. But still the boy was wrong, and the fox corrected him. "_**I am going into you, becoming you, taking you, and becoming free. And, to announce my freedom I will kill the Uchiha.**_" The fox laughed his hardest after his statement. Knowing his past it was understandable. Naruto was crushed by the statement.

"_**Don't worry you will regain control afterwards and I will go back to being captive.**_" Naruto then corrected the demon. "It's not that, I don't want my friend dead." Those were the words the Kyuubi wanted to hear. He will enact a ploy that will ensure a longer freedom. "_**Then what do you say about a deal? Huh boy? How about it?**_"

Naruto was intrigued, what could the Kyuubi want? "_**You loosen the seal a tad and I give control back to you.**_" Naruto cringed and shot back "Never! You won't ever get me to do that!" The demon then showed his trump card, "_**Fine, I'm free now so I'll just kill the Uchiha while I'm free.**_ _**And…**_" The Kyuubi chuckled to itself."_**You can do nothing to stop me!**_" The Kyuubi laughed again but more for how he knew Naruto would react. "Wait, I'll do what you want." came from the blonde's mouth. The fox laughed again, the boy was beyond dense. "But I want to set ground rules." Not as dense as it thought though. The fox eyed the boy, and asked, "_**What are these ground rules?**_" Naruto had to tread carefully; an unfavorable rule and negotiations were over. "First no harming my friends." The fox nodded in acceptance of the rule. "Second no killing without my consent." There was a hesitant nod after that rule. "Third free access to your chakra without any hitches." Another nod signified to go on. "Lastly tell me what will happen in me when I do this." The fox told Naruto plainly "_**It is a mystery even to me. There are many possibilities. Both of us could die, only I could die, you could die, or we will both live.**_ _**Nothing will be known unless we do this, even then it could take a while for full effect. But all in all I will abide by your rules even if you die. Kitsune promise.**_" Naruto, even though he was dealing with a demon, felt reassured. "Tell me what to do."

End of chapter

* * *

This was Lumenatrum's new story. If you liked it please review and tell me what you liked and if my grammar was good or not. If it is the opposite please tell me what I should work on.

If you feel as though Naruto is making a bad decision that is for me to know and you to find out by reading.

I'm trying to make this more original. If it has close resemblances to other stories notify me so I could see if mine is going the same way as the other.

So now all you have to do is review my story for me to see if I could revise it to appear better. So…. yeah…review. Later.


	2. The Confrontation

(A/N)Lumenatrum here with the next chapter. Cliffhanger last chapter, sort of.

Loss of words so after the disclaimer we will begin.

Disclaimer: I am purely writing this, as a fan work to the series of Naruto and this is non-profit so I won't have anything if you do sue me so on with the story and you really get nothing.

To plot advancement and beyond!!!!!!!!!!!!!

* * *

The Confrontation

"So tell me, what do I have to do?" Naruto asked his captive. The Kyuubi just gestured to the seal on the cage and told Naruto to channel his chakra into it. Naruto walked up to the seal, apprehensive on what the outcome might be. He was only doing this because a friend's life hanged in the balance.

What a friend leaving like that. He might have to break the Uchiha to bring him back.

He was at the destination, almost walking into it with how deep in thought he was. He looked at the seal that was placed on the caged that kept his captive at bay. Was it a good Idea? He hesitantly placed a shaky hand on the seal, and channeled his chakra into it. On the other side of the cage the Kyuubi was channeling his too into the seal. Then the seal tore in two, the cut left where the gap in the cage gate was.

The seal was broken, what did he do? Naruto asked himself this question a thousand times in a second.

The cage opened and the Kyuubi walked out, a deadly toothy smirk on its face. It looked down at Naruto and spoke above a whisper as if others were there listening. "_**Finally free.**_ _**Boy, on this day I have become a prisoner no more. I'M FREE!**_" The triumphant shout was ended when seal pieces began to float. They floated until they were above the Kyuubi's head; then moved around an invisible circle. The pace of the seal halves gained until they were hardly a blur. Then the seal pieces glowed from the chakra channeled by the two beings. The rate of the spin and the energy from the chakra formed a reactor of sorts.

Then the energy became too much to handle for the seal halves and they exploded with intense beams aimed on the demon beast. For the first time in millennia the Yoko No Kyuubi was harmed by what seemed to be a fail safe in the seal. The beams cut and stabbed into the immortal's flesh. They burned it with every shot that landed on the fox's skin, even a graze.

Shocked could not describe the way Naruto's face set itself to. The blonde shouted with intensity behind his words. "Fox what the hell is going on?! Where did this come from?"

Through its pain and involuntary recoils the fox shouted back, "_**It is probably… a…fail safe set by…the fourth.**_" The attack then died down and the fox became limp, its eyes shut. Naruto, standing near the beast, had to ask the burning question, "Are you okay?" Almost comically the fox opened an eye as if to check the boy for an "I'm an idiot" button on his shirt. The fox then did the smirk that Naruto was becoming all too familiar with and answered back, "_**Of course, you dense headed child. I am immortal. All I need is rest.**_" Naruto didn't know why but he was relived.

But then he remembered the object at hand. "Need to get back to chasing after Sasuke! How do I get back to the outside? And I think I'm gonna need your help with your chakra." The fox looked at him and offered something along with the chakra "_**I will also lend you something you completely lack. Knowledge. Think of it as a thank you for complying gesture. **_With that said the Kyuubi stated to push his chakra into a crack in the wall to the left of him. "What are you doing?" Naruto asked confused.

"_**You'll see.**_" The Kyuubi said with the smirk on his face.

* * *

Naruto found himself back where he was before he was pulled into his mind. He was still moving too. He almost tumbled in his regaining of consciousness. But he got back up and ran after the still fleeing Sasuke.

He automatically felt the charka of the fox, but the other 'gift' was not felt yet. Spurred by his own command, Naruto gained an abnormal speed to catch the Uchiha.

He blasted past trees and other foliage in pursuit. At times, for extra acceleration, he would kick off of something, leaving a crater at the site. His speed was leaving him a blur in normal vision. But he was not as determined as one would think, given his speed. No, he lost interest in this recovery, it was causing so much to happen and he felt it wouldn't stop soon.

Finally the pursuit ended, he found Sasuke and he could end this. His teammate was there in front of him across a river-waterfall looking over a river valley. He was stopped there, after Naruto called to him. Sasuke had his back turned never spinning to see Naruto. The blonde hoped he would not have to resort to fighting but that ended when Sasuke was not doing anything. He seemed to be waiting Naruto out, as if to track a moment to attack. Naruto wasn't going to give him a chance, only a warning.

"If your not coming peacefully, I will resort to having to incapacitate you." Sasuke turned to Naruto and said straightly, "Like you have the power to do that. You would only able to take out that child you hang out with. Even then it's close." That pissed Naruto off, but he didn't want to attack incase he was coming peacefully. "Coming or not?" He had to clarify.

Sasuke's answer came when he threw a kunai at Naruto. That was enough clarity. Naruto jumped the river, there where statues on either side of the river that were tall enough to have their bases at the bottom of the waterfall. Naruto landed a few feet away. Right before he punched Sasuke, Naruto said above a whisper, "You can easily gain power in the village." The force knocked back the now stunned Uchiha. Both marveled on the strength of the punch, enough to send Sasuke crashing back.

In his new crater, Sasuke was barely conscious and cursing every thing. How the hell did Naruto get that strength? And who the hell was he to try to take him back? He wasn't going to allow that. As he activated his curse mark, Sasuke vowed to break Naruto for his arrogance.

Sasuke stood up, his legs wobbly, and faced Naruto with dire intent. He then rushed Naruto, arm up for a punch. "You won't take me!" he shouted as he closed the gap. Naruto quickly dodged and spin kicked the Uchiha. The kick landed, and forced back Sasuke but latter wasn't giving up. Sasuke grabbed Naruto's leg before the blonde could remove it and jerked it to the right bringing Naruto closer for a punch. It landed on Naruto's face, forcing blood out of his nose. Naruto then used the proximity to knee the Uchiha in the gut. Sasuke then grabbed Naruto as he doubled over in his pain. He threw the blonde to the ground, and then while his opponent was down he jumped. As he came down to jump-stomp Naruto the latter rolled to the side and jumped to his feet. When Sasuke landed Naruto quickly pulled him down by his shirt. With the Uchiha bent down Naruto kneed him in the stomach and elbowed him in the back in succession. Sasuke, not allowing himself to fall to the ground, sweep kicked Naruto's legs.

Naruto regained his footing and rammed, head first, into Sasuke's stomach. When the Uchiha's balance corroded, Naruto ran with the former held in front of him like a battering ram. As Naruto ran Sasuke struggled to get free but soon he was rammed, back first, into a tree. The blonde jumped away as the Uchiha hit the tree and as he landed he formed a clone. The clone then assisted him in doing his most powerful technique the Rasengan. Naruto then disbanded his clone and charged. As he came closer he poured more chakra into the chakra ball in his hand. When it connected with Sasuke, the fore-mentioned Uchiha let out a cry of pain.

When it was finished the Uchiha laid there, aching all over. He wondered what went wrong, how was the dobe doing so well? He had to do this; he had to make it to Oto. Naruto wasn't getting in his way, not while he was still awake. "Naruto." He called to the blonde who was getting ready to load him up. "You seem to be more than what people make you to be, what I make you to be." Naruto was thinking maybe this was his way of saying he would go with out a fight and continued to load him on his back. When Sasuke was on loaded and Naruto was about to set off, Sasuke started to choke Naruto. "But, that just means I will have to push myself harder." As he spoke those words the third tomoe appeared in his Sharingan. Sasuke kicked off of Naruto's back and landed a couple feet away from the grounded Naruto.

Naruto picked himself up off the ground. He should have saw it coming. Sasuke wasn't one to give up; he almost risked his life to save him. When he was on his feet, Naruto glared at Sasuke. "I wonder what made me think you were giving up. I must be stupid, like every one says." Naruto said jokingly. Sasuke smirked "You're right, you are stupid. You think you have friends." This caught Naruto; he wondered what the hell was that about. "You think that just because we are teammates that get along a little that makes us friends. Have I or anyone else invited you to something that didn't involve training? Do you know anybody's private life? You, Naruto, are nobody's friend."

It hit Naruto like a boulder. He didn't know anything about anybody other than habits and skills. His Comrades, they were not his friends. They were only just that, his comrades.

Naruto doubled over, he must have been delusional for not seeing it. He had been laid information that only made it harder for him to keep calm. He had to stay calm or he would do something unthinkable.

Sasuke saw an opening when Naruto bent down. As his fist collided with Naruto's stomach, he criticized Naruto for leaving himself open. "A hokage doesn't get distracted like that." As Naruto doubled over more because of the shear force of the blow, Sasuke kneed him in the face. Sasuke then picked Naruto up and threw him off the ledge to the river valley. He watched Naruto fall all the way down; when he saw the splash he turned to leave.

Sasuke didn't gain two feet toward his goal when a hand grabbed him from behind. A wave of energy washed over him, filled with malice. He turned around to punch the owner of the hand. There stood Naruto, now clutching Sasuke's fist in his hand. The blonde then let out a horrible bellow, reminiscent of a howl of sorts. His clutched hand tightening its grip every second, then with his free hand punched Sasuke in the face. The speed of the punch made it unavoidable at that proximity. With his sharingan, which told him ahead of time, the punch landed on its mark.

The punch would have sent Sasuke flying if it weren't for the fact Naruto still held his grip. He didn't want to lose his quarry, not after the trouble he went through to get him. He let the unconscious Uchiha slip; he didn't deserve to be held on the way to the village. He would be dragged, all the way there.

He disengaged to Kyuubi chakra and decided to pay a visit to the now injured resident.

* * *

Naruto found himself in his mind, still dank and sewer-like as always. But now in the chamber that was there before the cage of the Kyuubi was said beast. Oddly enough it was in the middle of the spiral pattern that adorned the floor of the chamber. Its breathing was haggard and slow making the beast seem not as terrifying as it was before. Although the Kyuubi was renowned for its power of instant healing, something Naruto experienced first hand many times before, the fox still had its injures. The coat of the fox was stained with the beast's blood, still noticeable even though its fur was already red.

Naruto stepped closer the fox, careful of any deceit. When he spoke he spoke above a whisper. "How are you doing?" For reasons unknown to him he cared for the beast's well being. The beast spoke back "_**Boy I'm an immortal this won't get me down. I just need time, some good time. And I will be better and fit again.**_" Seconds passed. "_**Your compassion raises my curiosity though.**_"

Naruto jerked back and said shakily, "I don't care. I just thought that you would need company. You know cause- Hey, where was that _knowledge_ you were talking about?" he changed the subject. The fox accepted the change. "_**During the fight did you do any thing you possibly don't have on a usual basis?**_" Naruto thought for a while. Naruto opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted. "_**Besides strength boy.**_"

Naruto thought again, he was getting a headache. His moves, they were more fluid and more thought through than most of the time. He also noticed the fact he didn't need the assistance of his clones. "I fought better, but what does that have to do with knowledge?"

The weary fox rolled its eyes; a dunce is a dunce after all. "_**You experienced the what it was like to not go head long into things, boy. You thought things through and you won where you could have lost. And that is what knowledge gives you.**_" Naruto could help but notice the subtle hints at how the Kyuubi thought he was more than a little dumb.

"Alright so what are you getting at?" Naruto said not wanting crap. The fox narrowed its eyes. "_**Just wanted to point that out.**_" It said matter-of-factly.

"You're pissing me off you know that?" Naruto said with waning patience. The fox just scoffed.

"If you're just going to put me down I'll just leave." Naruto said. The fox gave him a look that said 'no one is stopping you'. More than a little pissed Naruto exited the mindscape.

A low laugh was heard coming from the Kyuubi. Its toothy smirk showing how white its teeth was. "_**Step one executed, step two established.**_"

* * *

Naruto found himself exactly where he was, standing near a knocked-out Sasuke and near a cliff edge over looking a river valley. He was about to start his dragging when his master came up from nowhere. "Yo, Naruto." That was the greeting he had at hand.

"Hi sensei. Mission complete." Naruto smiled back, his exhaustion evident in the weary smile. Kakashi looked down at the unconscious Sasuke. Even though most of his face was covered you could tell he was happy. Kakashi picked up Sasuke and without a final word left Naruto.

Under his breath Naruto said, "All they want is their precious Sasuke." Then he went on legs heavy, wishing for all the resent changes to stop all together and cursing Sasuke's earlier words.

Chapter End

* * *

This was chapter two of spiral tailed. I hope you liked it and will show it in a review. Lack of reviews will get anybody disheartened.

If anybody can I ask that someone gives me a list of curses that are allowed in teen rated ficts. Tayuya is going to be in this you know.

I have really no other final words so…. Later.


	3. Feral Red

(A/N) This is Lumenatrum speaking (writing) and here with my latest chapter for Spiral Tailed. Before we start I would like to thank the subscribers and reviewers that popped up the first couple days after I posted this story and it's first two chapters. Honestly, didn't think there would be such a fast response. You guys helped get me restarted with this.

Now I will move onto a question for my readers. Those of you who know what cuss words are allowed in a teen rated story PM them to me. If not you guys will have to suffer through a lot of covered curses. You know like f****, that way I won't be booted off for not abiding to the terms. I don't do this as torture just a way to keep the teen rating.

Before the disclaimer quick fact: since I am not too sure of the age of Tayuya she will be a year older than Naruto, who should be around thirteen around this point. If you disagree on the age of either or both it is a little late since when I have posted this it will be final. Plus since a child having a relationship with someone who is considered an adult is creepy to me. Sorry.

Disclaimer: Really, I am not saying I own Naruto, if that was the case then why post on a fanfiction site? Cat got your tongue? Thought so.

Sandpaper the bumps off and…there you go. A new chapter.

* * *

Feral Red

Naruto dragged his heavy feet on the ground as he walked back to Konoha. He learned something about the Kyuubi's chakra today: unless he already expended his charka, his resident's will drain it. Or something like that, he wasn't the best at analysis. If he could he would have the brains at Konoha or at least Shikamaru come up with a reason. But the thought of the explanation was enough to wreak the idea all together.

Really, how was he so dumb? He accepted an agreement with one of the most notorious demons in his land. That alone was dumb, but he did it to save a supposed friend. What a waste, even if in reality he saved himself from imprisonment. He would have murdered the Uchiha, and ended it, if he knew what was brought with this whole ordeal. He probably would not have even accepted the mission.

Naruto sighed; it sounded more of a moan. All these changes were wearing him down. The seal was fully broken, his out look on his friends had changed, he was out one person he thought as a brother, and the Kyuubi started messing with his mind. It was all too much, for someone of his age and inexperience as a full-fledged shinobi. But were the changes going to stop? A gut feeling told him not in a great time. He hoped his gut was wrong, even so he felt like yelling at the top of his voice at everything. Like many who are trapped do.

Within a second of when he felt like yelling, he heard a cry holding the same feeling as his. The same trapped feeling. When he went to investigate, he had no idea how literal the feeling was.

Being the ninja he was, Naruto was able to pinpoint the relative location of the cry. What he found when he got there was more than just surprising. Naruto didn't know what the name of the state he was in nor could he describe it. A giant section of the forest he was in not an hour ago was a lumberyard. Trees and other forest foliage were twisted upon the ground, cut as if by blade. Shikamaru was in this forest, probably the voice. But then Naruto corrected himself; the voice was too high pitched for it to be Shikamaru's. That is, unless Shikamaru screamed like a girl, which would be hilarious and fun to tell the others.

So he searched, since even if it wasn't him the thought still made him forget the day's events. He turned over tree trunks and other things that were now the forest's floor. When he heard a soft breath behind him, he turned around and encountered something that probably was the least of his expectations. He found a girl, a redheaded one to be specific, with her lower body trapped under a log. She was unconscious and seemed to look extremely familiar to Naruto. He couldn't place just where he seen her but in any circumstance he went to help her anyway. He walked up to the log crushing the lower half of the girl; he summoned some clones and some of his strength. With surprisingly little effort by Naruto, the log was launched in the air.

Naruto couldn't help but be very intrigued by the now flying log. When it hit the ground, snapping several others of trees on the ground, Naruto finally shouted. Things were still changing; he thought it odd that only yesterday he would have been shouting for joy. The stress the day brought on him had modified his thoughts on everything. He wished that something ordinary would happen, fast. But he didn't know he woke his damsel in distress.

"Hey f******* loudmouth! Quiet the hell down, I'm f******* dieing here!" A womanly voice shouted at him. Naruto looked to the origin of the shout, finding the same girl he had just saved laying on the ground. Her eyes seemed to spew anger, all of it directed at him. After a moment of silence Naruto finally processed her words. "Why the hell are you yelling at me?! I am the one who just saved you!" he yelled back. "Yeah thanks a f****** lot d***head! Now let me lay here, without you shouting and breaking the f****** sound barrier!" she spat back. She had a comforting sleep in her unconsciousness. But the thud of the log and Naruto's shout happening in succession snapped her from it. But Naruto overlooked that possibility, and again shouted, "At least you can be grateful! Damn is every girl I meet a b****?" he asked the last part to himself. But in his fury he picked a word best left unsaid near a woman. "What was that f****r! Did you just-" Without finishing her sentence the girl hit his shin with her good hand. Naruto fell back in pain, gripping his leg. His back hit a log lying behind him; whip lashing his head and knocking him out.

"Loser." The girl scoffed under his breath as Naruto was slipping into his mindscape.

* * *

There he was in the corridor-room that heralded the Kyuubi's cage. The Kyuubi still lying in the center, curled like a cat resting. If it wasn't so damn big it might of looked, not scary. Cute was to far a word for this fox. _**"What is wrong boy, girl trouble?"**_ the fox boomed, and then snickered at its own words. Naruto was taken aback; he wondered how the fox knew. It must have showed on his face cause the fox then said, "_**I can see what you see. We are in a connection right now as I'm not in my cage.**_" There was a pause,_** "You yelling is refreshing you know that." **_Sarcasm was dripping from the last statement. Naruto noticed and got irritated, but wasn't going to shout for that was what the fox wanted; he just knew it.

"So what do you want? Or did you want to point that out to?" Naruto said venom in his voice. Things got quiet after that, although it put off Naruto it allowed him to reflect upon what happened only a little bit ago. At first he was wondering on the strength that manifested when he picked up the log. He must have thrown it more than a couple yards in the air, which in itself is amazing for anybody. Then the girl made her way into his mind. He didn't know why but there was something about her. It plagued him, what was it about her? He just couldn't place it, and it irritated him.

Laughter boomed in front of Naruto, the sound coming from the fox. It looked on the verge of tears in front of him. Naruto was puzzled as to why the beastly demon was laughing. The fox then answered his thoughts, "_**You, boy, are what I'm laughing at! You're such a simpleton; really leave it to you to not know your own feelings.**_" Naruto became more pissed as the fox talked "What are you getting at?" The fox just laughed harder, it almost wheezing as it laughed. _**"I'm obviously suggesting something boy. If you get it I will not dub you as king of imbeciles. Although as the most likly canidate this should just give you a headache, now shouldn't it."**_

Naruto sat there for a while; digging deep into what the Kyuubi might be getting at before it came to him. "What the hell you bastard! Why are you suggesting that.?!" The Kyuubi smirked; this was getting fun for it. _**"Well boy, if it came to you then you must have thought about it. Right?" **_It stressed the last word a lot. Naruto couldn't get a come back for that, he was stuck with the fox taunting him. His face turned bright red, and he spoke above a whisper, "Shut up." he cursed himself for the childish retort. His anger peaked and feed up with the beast Naruto yelled, "I'm not going to take this from a trapped animal!" with that said Naruto left.

Again a low chuckle was heard bellowing from the demon. It held a feeling of it getting a helpful surprise. "_**Well now as soon as I'm out I will have my first minion.**_" It laughed again but this time more manically than what was previous. "_**Good, good, an underling of a psychopath is easier to convert that anyone in Konoha.**_"He decided to give Naruto a little gift that may come in handy, mostly for his own gain. But Naruto will just see it as a helping hand. And besides this will just help in the plan.

* * *

The girl sat there staring at the unconscious Naruto. She was debating with herself about just what Naruto's motives were. Where she grew up everything anybody did were for personal gain. Even while she was in Oto, especially when she was in Oto it was an eye for an eye. So what was the kid's motive, then she got a look at his headband.

A leaf of course, really it was dumb of her not to see it before. It was there on his head, displayed to the world. He wanted to take her for questioning, for her and her team's little extortion of the Uchiha. She was, in fact, still in their territory. The boy was probably trying to get some medal for capturing an enemy.

Then she took another good look at the boy. He seemed familiar, then she saw it. He was that brat trying to get that Uchiha back. She remembered him running after Kimimaru when he took the Uchiha after calling her and her teammates failures and promising to come back and kill her. The boy was still alive after having a run in with Kimimaru? She shook the thought, crazy maybe he had a twin. Yeah even if it had its holes the theory made more sense than Kimimaru being defeated by a genin by the looks of it.

Naruto started to stir, yawning as the came to. As he woke up, he remembered how he fell asleep. He scratched the back of his head in remembrance, the fall hurt. He then focused on the girl; she was staring directly at him. In reflex from the attention he turned away and blushed when the words of the Kyuubi replayed in his head.

But the girl took it a different way, and got pissed. "Hey! It was your fault in the first place! Really, is b**** a word to say to a lady!" Her anger rising as she went on. Naruto recoiled in surprise, he felt as though that came out of nowhere. Naruto was about to start yelling again, but better judgement told him other wise. The looked down, and said the two most overused words ever. "I'm sorry." But they seemed to work for the girl, so he continued. "I haven't had the best day today. Really way too much has happened happened to me and I sort of took out my anger on you." Naruto looked away again as the girl seemed to take the apology to account.

"Fine you bastard. I accept the apology. Now leave." She said curtly. She didn't want to here what the leaf ninja had to say. But Naruto stayed there, looking at her funny. He stood there just staring at her with a look fixed on her face that said 'are you crazy'. Then he made an observation, "You won't be able to walk with those legs."

"Oh really." she replied with words filled with sarcasm.

"You need help?" Naruto offered

"You're a medic nin?"

"No but I can take you to my village and we'll go to the hospital"

Before she could refuse, Naruto picked her up on his back. The sudden movement caused a surge of pain to shot through her body. Being in the position she was she ended up screaming into the young blonde's ear. Which caused him to jerk, which sent more pain to course through and make her scream again.

Not wanting the girl to yell again he gently let her down on the ground. He got up close to examine her legs. But that ended up with him being knocked on the head by her for being so close. He was going to yell but the pain in his head set in making him flinch. He was about to say something but the girl beat him to the punch.

"You dumba**ed clumsy bastard! Really, you couldn't give me a damn warning! My legs were under a damn tree! You think I'm ready to go piggyback! You're a dips***, really you are!"

"Fine! Damn, you could use better language you know!" he answered back. He then knelt down to pick her up again. This time bridal-style, only she punched him in the chest and knocked him to the ground after he was up. "It still hurt dips***!" she yellled again. He laid there with her on his chest constricting his lungs.

But then his head started to hurt; he was about to blame her when he felt something close to what he felt after his fight with Kimimaru. He started to remember foreign information. Oddly enough they were healing techniques. Guided by the false-true memories, he again gently set her down and focused his chakra to her legs.

**Hone saisei no jutsu**

At that moment the girl's pain settled, although it still felt broken. This kid was good, and a liar, but still needed to work on his tech. But still he was a liar, and she hated being lied to. With her now almost healed legs she tripped him, she could get past the pain.

"What the hell was that for?!" he yelled

"You're a f****** liar! That is what that was for." She mocked him at the end. "You said you were not a medic nin!"

"I'm not, it just is part of the weirdness of today."

She then looked down, she was wondering why he was helping him. She then voiced it, "Why the hell are you helping me."

"I don't know but I help those in need and right know you are in need. So, I guess that is why I'm helping you."

The girl decided to take advantage of the fact that the boy didn't remember her. "Then can you help me." She asked as innocently as she can. Naruto was more than a bit put off by the sudden change but decided to do what he can. "So what do you want?" She decided to lay it on with this one. She pouted her lips and made a pleading face, "I need a place to hide, can you help me with that?" She would have not asked him that if she didn't think he was a total imbesile, which she did.

"Sure" was the simple answer. "What is your name?"

"Tayuya." She didn't ask him his name, but that didn't stop him. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki! Nice to meet you Tayuya. I promise to hide you, and I never break my promises."

Naruto picked her up bridal style again. "So where do you come from Tayuya?"

Something in her head told her to tell him the truth. "Oto" she answered simply with a toothy smirk. Although afterwards she regretted ever saying it.

But Naruto did nothing as if it wasn't a problem. The only thing that when through Naruto's head was that he made a promise and he planed to keep it. He smiled in a toothy smirk and said, "Ah, I hate that place." and chuckled afterwards.

Then Naruto commented to himself that he felt as though he just used the Kyuubi's chakra again. But he shirked it off right now he had to worry about getting Tayuya across the Konoha boarder wall.

* * *

Inside Naruto's mindscape the Kyuubi chuckled deeply again. _**"Good, test complete. This will be very good."**_

Chapter End

* * *

(A/N)Chapter three down and it was more of a cliffhanger. Kinda, well for those of you who want an explanation for some things…here

**Hone saisei no jutsu **(technique of bone regeneration/ but don't fully believe it all the way it wasn't a good translating site.)

Just a little earlier Tayuya was taken over by the Kyuubi. I was because it was making Naruto subconsciously channel its charka into her. So she would agree and it could test something. As you can see.

For those of you who don't like Naruto/Tayuya the warning was in the first chapter. I tried to make the first meeting more real but time and the end of a day of typing made this ending. Still hope you like it. Hope to hear from you. And don't be afraid to ask question. If the answer won't spoil anything I'll answer it.

With that…later.


	4. Settleings

I am Lumenatrum and you are now on ch.4 of Spiral Tailed. For those who have given me reviews and/or have subscribed or favorited to some degree, I will do a blanket thanks. I do a blanket one to not make anyone feel awkward…even though this is the Internet.

Thank you my reviewers and subscribers/favoriters, you have given me a push to keep on and not just rot, bored at my house, with how my summer has be so far. I am bowing right now. Well, on to other business.

Let the drone of the music in my ears, the drive your reviews give me, and the ever-growing search to relive boredom be my muse and allow me to make this chapter good. Well I digress and I sort of over dramatized the last statement.

Disclaimer: My name is not, Is Not, Masashi Kishimoto. And therefore I do not own the Naruto series and everything associated with it. This is a fan work pure and true. Fan-work, I emphasize my point.

With everything in order, I bring the next chapter. It's down there, down there. Look passed the black line, and there is the chapter title, after that, the text is located. Read it.

* * *

Settlings?

His feet hurt, his body ached, and he felt a migraine coming on. Naruto was still ranting about the day in his mind. He was getting on his own nerves, something that was impossible. He had to change the subject in his head. He was going to focus on his consort, but the fox's words still played in his mind and he blushed each time he thought about her. Especially since he was carrying her.

And conversation was already tried; it didn't go well for him. Or, well didn't go well at the end of it all. They were having a civil conversation for there 'big reveal' to each other earlier. It was about their lives at this point, started by a complaint by Tayuya. She complained that an elite from a ninja village needed help from an obvious genin from an enemy village. Naruto questioned her status, earning himself an elbow to the gut. After that a shouting match ensued, eventually won by Tayuya, who ended it with a punch directed to Naruto's face. The punch in the face was probably the most likely cause of his migraine.

After that silence was the status of there conversation, both trying to not be the one to break the silence. The both were trying to be the stronger one and have the other one instead break it. After that they would mock them for having broken the silence, and get a one over the other.

They both sneezed at the same time. The force of their sneezes made them bump heads with the other, which inadvertently started another match of the loudmouths.

"Hey! You d***head f****r, that hurt, what is you skull that thick?" Tayuya yelled the insult/question at Naruto. Naruto was a little dazed but came back with, "What about you? I think you cracked it!" he gestured to the top of his head with is eyes. "Cracked! I don't even see a bump on that dumba** head of yours." Tayuya loudly retorted to the blonde. Naruto's ears were aching form the migraine. His ears were ringing loudly enough to shatter glass, "Dammit! You yell louder than Sakura." Tayuya grunted a small chuckle. Like that was a come back. But Naruto wasn't finished, "Trust me she yells loud enough to make small animal's run in fear." When Tayuya stopped Naruto was glad that he got to her. Although when she dropped her head, he immediately felt as though he went too far. That given he was surprised when she started laughing. Considering her hard attitude it was weird to her a lighthearted laugh from the girl.

Naruto chuckled, commenting that the laugh was contagious. "What's so funny?" he simply asked. Her laughing died down a bit and she answered, "Your girlfriend sounds b****y." Everything above Naruto's waist stopped, his legs kept moving forward. At the second mentioning of Sakura he came upon a realization. He immediately though about Sakura greeting him at the gate, wanting to thank him for stopping Sasuke from running away. He could vividly picture her face as soon as she saw Tayuya in his arms. Although fantasy was prefect for a time like that he focused on what was more plausible. First it would be one of curiosity, then when she prods him for information and him not having anything ready she would figure it out. And if he did come up with something Sasuke would definitely fess up on information as soon as he seen her, just to get back at Naruto for botching his defection.

When he thought about just unloading her, he remembered his promise. He never went back on a promise.

"Hey idiot." Tayuya knocked on his head to get his attention. Naruto looked back his face blank. "What?" came out of his mouth. One of Tayuya's eyes twitched, "What do you mean what? I was talking to you and then you just froze up. Do you pay attention at all?" Naruto chuckled, "You sound exactly like all of my instructors in the academy. What were we talking about?" Tayuya sighed; he was an idiot. "I was saying that your girlfriend was b****y. And then you fell silent. What did she die?" Naruto tensed again, that was not a pretty thought to him. "No, no she didn't die. I was thinking of how to sneak you in. It will be difficult, but if I know things around the village, the guards will escort me to the hokage's office. I'll have a clone hide you then." Naruto then chuckled again. Tayuya looked away, "I didn't think you were serious. I thought you were going to hand me over to interrogation." she admitted.

"No, I promised to keep you safe and I never go back on my word." Naruto smiled and looked at Tayuya. It was then he sort of realized how close their faces had gotten to each other. He looked forward, his face burning a light red. He was glad to see gate ahead. That was before he realized he was still holding her. "Okay, let me put you down for a second." He let her down off the beaten path. Forming the seal for the kage bunshin no jutsu, a clone appeared to the right of Naruto deeper off the path. The clone lifted her up, nodded towards Naruto, and headed off even deeper in the woods.

Now all that was left off the awful day was the report and he was finished. He was thankful for the fact that he walked at a slower pace than usual. He would have to face everybody for the rest of the day. But the sun was close to the horizon and he knew that he could excuse himself earlier from everybody. For the first time since he found Tayuya, which was around midday, he thought about Sasuke's words. If he was going to have real friends he would have to invite them to more things.

But not today.

* * *

He made his way to the gate of the 'oh so great' village of Konoha. He felt himself despising the gate. Memories flooded into his mind, none of them good. Memories of his childhood, which he only had a loose and shaky grip of. Things he didn't remember came back in a haze. He was chased out that gate once. Not even that long ago. It was somewhere after him starting his first year at the academy. The villagers chased him, most likely fearing him as a ninja. He was going to run away. But a nameless shinobi stopped him. There wasn't any warning and he could have sworn he was going to die that day. But instead he was delivered to a room of old people. The counsel he believed. They were muttering about 'Balance', a 'Weapon', and him getting a secluded and abandoned part of town. He got just that, his house was now in a part of town where the population was lost during the last shinobi war and the attack of the Yoko No Kyuubi. Or well it was the equivalent to that. The people who were there were moved to a different spot. While he was quarantined, like a virus.

When he was finally at the entrance he was seething. The only thing that made him happy was that his friends would be waiting. He looked around; nobody was there except the posted chuunin. He expected some to be there to greet him. But nobody he knew stood at the gate awaiting his arrival. He felt a tug at his heart; nobody cared enough to see him come back. Kakashi was sure to have reported him still alive. There was no doubt in that. A thought then struck him his friends might have died at the hands of the sound four. He cursed that he didn't even think of that possibility. He was about to run to the hospital when one of the chuunin stopped him.

"Uzumaki Naruto?" the chuunin called. Naruto looked at the man, nodded confirming his identity. The nin walked up to him, painfully slow for Naruto. "I have news I am to pass on to you." Naruto was apprehensive it could be many things, his friends deaths one of them. He hoped to all that was just that it wasn't that. "You are to see the hokage, she wants to talk about you punctuality." He wasn't expecting that. But he didn't answer the question that vexed Naruto. "What happened to Shikamaru, Kiba, Neji, and Choji?" He asked almost not wanting to hear the answer. "Your team?" the chuunin began, "yeah they're all right. Or, now they are. It was touch and go from what I heard." Naruto nodded to the man and went straight to the hokage's office before he went to the hospital. What was so bad about a lecture anyway?

* * *

"So, you think it is alright to take as long as you want when you comeback from a mission." Tsunade said as she held Naruto in a headlock. Naruto struggled to get out of the headlock, it only made her hold harder and the grip to go around his neck. His airway cut off and desperate he tried to talk the hokage out of causing his inevitable death. "I'm sorr-" he never finished the sentence as the hokage gripped tighter. "Apologies won't help you know! A hokage is never tardy, no matter what!"

With the last part said Tsunade allowed Naruto to live that day. She released him from the death grip, he was gasping on the floor when she released. "Oh stop over dramatizing it. So now how did things go? Tell me everything." She sat at her desk as she was talking. Naruto got up, still a little dizzy from the experience, and reported his experience. Of course parts were left out, he was certain imprisonment would be the product of the whole truth. As he came to a close Tsunade asked a question Naruto hoped she wouldn't have, "Why did you take so long?"

Naruto was going to freeze up when an excuse popped in his head. "I just fought my best friend in a battle where he was bent on leaving even if killing me was just a step toward it." If anything that should be excuse enough.

Tsunade's face softened, she did know that they were close. But a ninja can't be weighed down by emotions like that. He needed punishment, And she was the one who was going to give it to him, "Still Naruto you were too come straight back from a mission. For disobeying a simple rule like that, you are to be punished." She sat for a second thinking while Naruto almost yelled in protest. He stopped since it would have gotten him in more trouble. Tsunade snapped her fingers when she got an idea that would be the perfect punishment for his misdeed. "You are to be barred from missions for a month. This includes all mission of any like no matter how urgent or important." She smirked at the end of her chastising of Naruto.

Naruto could have sworn his heart stopped. Missions are the only way he could out of the village. Which got more and more disgusting to him by the minute. He knew he could not protest, all tries would be shot down. "Fine, a month then?" the hokage nodded. "May I leave?" Another nodded signified him to go out the door. Well maybe his friends would cheer him up.

* * *

Shikamaru was the first he visited, and by the looks of it he wasn't injured as one would think. A broken finger marked his battle injury. Naruto speculated that it wasn't something one could show off as a battle injury. When Naruto prodded the Nara for information he learned that the boy fought Tayuya. But when Naruto prodded more he learned that the sand ninja, Temari, had intervened. Naruto should have seen that one. Of course he wasn't the one who really finished anything. And with information that Naruto got from a pass by with Temari, Shikamaru was almost killed when she got there.

Choji and Neji were in intensive care, so he couldn't get to them. That left Kiba, who mostly bragged that he had to stab himself to get the sound's twin out of his body. Naruto wanted to retch when he heard that. Then when the other sand ninja, Kankuro, Naruto believed, came he told Naruto that Kiba was also close to death by the time he came to save him.

The fact of Kiba and Shikamaru's struggles made Naruto wonder how Choji made it with the opposing side's skills. Neji was no worry with how he was skilled and with his kekkei genkai. Well he would have to ask when he was more available.

Naruto walked through the halls of the hospital. It was sort of dingy for a place of healing. As he walked down the halls of the building, he noticed he was making his way to the last room he was given by the nurse. The last room he wanted to go. Second floor, room fourteen. Uchiha Sasuke.

He wanted to walk straight back, but a need for praise pushed him there. Surely Sakura or Ino would give him praise to some extent. Even if they would only say thank you and run back to Sasuke, it was all he wanted. He came to the room, and was surprised to see the two outside the room than in. As he came closer he heard them conversing. He wasn't one for eavesdropping but who knows maybe they will talk about him. He hid behind a potted plant so not to be seen by them, and focused on listening to them.

"I can't believe how far he went" Ino shouted. Sakura then chimed in, "I know, he will pay!" Ino nodded to Sakura and then said, "Where does he get off doing that! I mean really does he even care what would have happened to him!? Damaging him like that."

Naruto stopped listening there, yeah they were talking about him. No names were mentioned but the conversation was definitely about him. He damaged Sasuke, and even though it was to keep him from running, they still blamed him. Before they had a chance to notice him, he fled the building. Sasuke meant more and he really hurt Sasuke. They probably won't forgive him.

His friends didn't care enough to ask how his fight went, Tsunade kept him from missions, and now this. Things were worsening.

He limply walked back to his house. His day would end and, hopefully, things would be back to normal. As normal as it could be after today.

* * *

Naruto started to walk for his house.

The sun was upon setting. The birds were chirping, and families were walking back to their homes from what ever they did that day. The evening was peaceful, and in deep contrast with Naruto. Not many his age would deal so well with the happenings. The external events were becoming too many, and he felt 'things' happening inside him. But then he felt something else. It was weird. In his own voice he heard "hey" sounding off time and time again. It was odd.

The voice started to come as soon as he stared to get back memories. Memories that made him deeply hate his village.

His house was in sight when he heard someone behind him. Lee called to him. When Naruto turned the green beast was right behind already. Lee stood over him breathing down his neck. Naruto flinched at Lee's lack of personal space. "Uh… Yeah Lee? You need something?" Naruto managed to say, the proximity still weird for him. Lee nodded, his head moving erratically. "Naruto I want to fight you." Lee said to the now bewildered Naruto.

"Why?" Naruto asked simply. Lee grinned, "Well first, you beat my ultimate rival, Neji." Naruto rubbed the back of his head, grinning as if he was being praised. "Then today you beat your ultimate rival, Sasuke." Naruto's smile lessened at the mention of the Uchiha. "And the body of the fallen shinobi of the sound you fought was examined, which provided information that you also felled another holder of a kekkei genkai!" Lee struck a fighting pose, "And that is why, you Naruto are now my ultimate rival. You, who have beaten three holders of kekkei genkai. To prove my youthfulness I must beat you in an outstanding battle where both of us radiate the power of youth. And since you have beaten two geniuses today your youthfulness is radiating brightly. Not only that, in inspiration of your feats I am also radiating powerful youth."

"Listen Lee, today isn't good-" Naruto was cut off when Lee grabbed him. "Naruto, I will not take a negative answer." Naruto was getting pissed. He grabbed Lee's forearm, tightening his grip around the wrist. "Lee, I mean it today is not-" Lee threw Naruto away from his house.

"I will not take no for an answer. Be ready Naruto, I want a good fight." Lee charged; arm reared back to punch. Naruto slowly stood; each second angered him more. He was not in the mood; he was not ready to fight. Lee's punch felt like it was filled with bricks. Lee then spun around, heel kicking Naruto in the stomach. The force of the kick pushed Naruto back, crashing on the ground when he landed. He got up again, only to be caught in the face with another punch. Lee then got an uppercut on the blonde. But the green beast wasn't done. He jumped to meet up with Naruto in mid air, in a mock of his own move: hidden lotus. But instead of doing the move, he gripped Naruto by the back of his shirt and flipped sending both of them crashing head first into the ground. But before they were even caught by gravity, Naruto was pulled into a familiar place.

* * *

He lay on the ground of his own mind, panting. He was exhausted physically and mentally. Why, when he was so close to solitude. He looked around from his unmoving position; the fox was far away from his landing site. Usually when the fox pulled him in he was right there in front of it. Maybe it was toying with him for not fighting back.

But really was it his fault? He never asked for Lee to fight him. He tried to reason. But deaf ears catch nothing, and Lee was deaf to the negative. 'Unyouthful' as he called it. If he wasn't about to be severely injured, he would have laughed.

He then heard footsteps. That was strikingly odd. The fox and himself were the only one in there, both were not moving. So then what was he hearing? The steps were drawing closer.

_Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap._

They stopped. He looked up from his lying position. What he saw was easily the most surprising and confusing sights he had seen all day. The blonde hair, blue eyes, the outfit, and the whiskers. He knew it as soon as he caught eyes with the other's.

In front of him, he himself stood. The other opened his mouth, and one word came from it, "Hey."

Chapter End

* * *

Chapter 4 has been received. Thank you again to all my reviewer/favoriters/subscribers. Hope each and every one of you who have read this like it an feel that I need to continue. Thank you.

Well nothing left to say except the following. Review and well…later.


	5. Becoming Whole

Lumenatrum here, with Spiral Tailed ch5. Shout like maniacs. Or not, whatever.

With thanks to all those who keep on subscribing/favoriteing/reviewing, I will get to the story faster.

Disclaimer: fifth time I said this. I am not trying in anyway to say at all that I own the Naruto series. Fan work. That is it.

That is now out of the way so…we're off I guess.

* * *

Becoming whole

Naruto could not believe what his eyes were showing him. He was dreaming. That was it; the other Naruto in front of him was a dream. That explained it; he was knocked out by Lee and was now dreaming of himself laying in front of himself. And that he was looking at the other him that stood in front of him. His head throbbed; this was starting to hurt.

"That is why I chose not to concentrate on it. After a while who knows, maybe our head will explode." That standing one told to the laying one, the original. Naruto stared at himself for a bit, his headache still coming to a full on migraine. "Now stop, really, I told you not to focus on it." The one standing said, crossing his arms as he did. "I have important business and if you are just going to lay there, with that mindless gaze, I might as well twist your neck and get this over with.

"What! Why would I want to kill me?" Naruto said confusedly. The other laughed, half smiling as he did. "Heh, are you trying to confuse me or did you think that was clever? Because really, it wasn't amusing at all." The other said. The original was still trying to piece what was happening in his head. All the questions he wanted to ask but not piece together in normal speech. The only one that came to words was, "So you are me?" the other nodded. It made more questions go off in his head. The next question was a simple, "How?"

The other chuckled. "Think, a seal big enough to seal a master spirit, like the Yoko No Kyuubi, that doesn't accidentally take some of the host with it. An undertaking of that magnitude, in some aspects, leaves room for error. The Kyuubi, the fourth, and us: we all could have died. As long as there was no more threat, there wasn't any care. And that is what the hokage concentrated on. That and give you the better end of the deal. In some cases I guess it is better."

Naruto was confused again. "What did I lose in the sealing of the Kyuubi?" The other pointed to himself, "Do I really need to explain it?" Naruto shook his head, "Now your being stupid. As in what are you to me?" The other did another half smile, "I am most of your memory capabilities. With that I also am your knowledge and where your ideas originate. I hold many of your memories, short and long-term. Unless the memory was a more recent event you would not remember it or it would be just a murky remembrance of the time."

Naruto stared at the other, who seemed to answer what was on his mind, "The only real reason I am manifested as I am is because my time in with the Kyuubi allowed me to absorb its chakra and become as I am. An exact likeness of you. But that ends at looks."

So… then what do you want?" the original asked, now standing. The other stepped closer, leaving them an inch apart. It looked the original right in the eye, giving Naruto a nagging awkwardness. "I want what you should want, to be whole. Think about it for a second. You and me, we have, for all our lives, been fragments of what we should be. Only fragments of the real Naruto. Who, himself, is a young man with strength and cunning, with a mind like a trap. Do you not want to be whole? Do you?"

When the other finished, the now fragment of himself, Naruto didn't have words to say. What could he say? It was odd how all it dropped on this single day. But life has ways of dropping a bomb on somebody. It seemed as though it practiced for this.

Naruto stood, staring at his fellow fragment. Silence was audible during the few moments where nothing was said. The two just stared, thoughts flowing in each other's mind. The first hoped that it was all a dream like he had done earlier. The other wanted nothing more than for his opposite to agree.

Then the one in wait could not wait any longer. "Are you going to agree or not?" he said pissed as he was. It then grabbed Naruto by his coats shoulder. It was stronger than it let on. It brought Naruto up to its face. "Think about all the times when memories, knowledge was something that you needed. The only times when you thought things through was when you were under tremendous stress. The times when the seal was weakened. What does that say?" It stopped and waited for any answer at all. When none came it continued, "It tells us that I slipped you knowledge. I am the reason you got passed anything with strategy, something you won't come up with on your own. The only times you didn't need me was when luck was on your side." It dropped Naruto. "Your knowledge led you to believe a bastard of a man was your best friend." It glared at Naruto, "So much for that."

Naruto looked down, its argument was getting harder to deny. "I, I just want thing back to the way they were." The other pushed Naruto down, chakra fused into the push left Naruto numb. It spoke forcefully, "Tough s**t! Things change, the sooner you learn that the sooner we can move on."

Naruto lay there on the floor of his mindscape. He looked up at the aggressor that was himself. It had knowledge as it called it. Knowledge retained by memory. If that was true then it truly was better if they some how became whole. Naruto struggled past his numbness to speak, "How? How are we going to do it?" The other bent down at Naruto's side. It placed its hand on Naruto's head.

Naruto started to feel a flooding feeling. Like every thing he ever knew was flooding back into his head. He started to remember when he was young and a man had beaten him, for no real reason. Then a memory of the third soothing him after the event. He remembered the old man fondly. He was most likely cause of his staying willfully. As more visions flooded in and more attacks kept on, he began to wonder if he should have gone away. He wondered why he didn't try to leave the village more than once.

As it ended Naruto found the other to be gone no longer in existence. And he felt whole, to put it in a word. As he reviewed again everything he had gotten back, he became angry. It was pushing him. He wanted to have revenge on the whole village. He no longer wanted to be a savor. Instead he wanted to be the one that would spread anarchy. But then it stopped when he remembered his friends and the like. He would do nothing to hurt them, but he wasn't staying. No he didn't plan on it.

His thoughts focused on the job at hand. Although he wasn't planning on hurting his friends, he wasn't going to get to his house without getting dirty.

* * *

He found himself back where he was mid-flip in Lee's make shift lotus. He was going to take advantage of Lee choosing to not to release the gates. "Sorry Lee, I gave you a warning." was all Naruto said before he concentrated his chakra to envelop his body. He focused the chakra more and more, condensing it as it went on. As they came close to the ground Naruto whispered one last apology before discharging the chakra like a bomb, forcing Lee to be shot of Naruto's body.

Lee landed with a hard thud onto the ground. Naruto flipped and landed on his feet, a lesson from the academy taught him that. Naruto walked up to Lee to make sure the boy was not dead. He poured a bit more into the maneuver than he planned. It was a nice idea that he just came up with. But really it ended with him probably killing one of his friends. In hindsight chakra control was something he would need.

He stood there at the form of the body. When he was about to bend over and check it, Lee picked his whole form off the ground with his hands and spun himself on his hands, tripping Naruto. "Sorry to deceive you like that but in a real fight anything goes." Lee said to Naruto. Naruto fell backwards but as he landed on his back, he rolled landing on his feet again. "Fine, you know what, bring it Lee." Naruto said with finality.

Naruto charged at Konoha's green beast, prepared to kick the boy as soon as he was close enough. When the time was right he swung his leg in a wide swing kick. Although the bowl cut one was able to duck under it. But as Naruto's leg came over the top of the head of the green beast, the former cleaved his leg to the top of the latter's head. The blow was stunning, making Lee's head to violently hurt. The last strike was charged with chakra, enabling it to have more force than normal.

Lee tried to get passed the pain, halfway failing. Trying to pull through Lee grabbed at the leg that struck his head. Getting a solid footing he threw Naruto by the leg into an abandoned home, farther away from his house.

Upon impact Lee rushed up to the house. When Naruto didn't come out Lee went in and checked. Nobody was inside, the house dusty and covered in webs. The furniture was fragile looking and would probably crack under the weight of a child. Lee walked around the abandoned house, an eerie feeling coming to him. If it wasn't for the light coming through the hole in the house would look haunted.

Lee checked under all the furniture in the house and all the rooms with no sign of Naruto. Lee turned around thinking that Naruto might have been waiting outside. Just as Lee was about to go out the hole, a sound caught him, a stomp from the ceiling. Lee stood there thinking that it was probably Naruto. But a hand caught him by his back collar. It turned him around to see that it was, in fact, Naruto. Naruto had his hand reared back, ready to let go at a moments notice. Naruto let his fist loose, catching Lee in the face as he did so.

Lee flew back hitting, and breaking, a table as he landed. Naruto jumped into the air, legs pulled back onto his body. He was getting ready to stomp on Lee, hopefully ending it. But as he came down Lee rolled and jumped. Matching Naruto's height, Lee swing kicked Naruto in the head. The blonde fell on to the ground, poofing into a cloud of smoke.

Lee smacked himself in the face. Kage bunshin, Naruto's signature. He didn't think ahead. As Lee was mentally cursing himself, the ceiling above cracked. Naruto came form above and hammered down on the green beast. Naruto stood on top of Lee's lying form. Naruto started to channel his chakra into his hand. He placed the hand on Lee's head. He temporarily cut of the signals going from the brain to the body, making Lee numb.

Naruto picked up the temporary dead weight. He knew which hospital room the boy was kept in. He walked back to the hospital; he looked back at his house where rest was about to be his. He'll just have to rush back.

* * *

Lee was finally back in his bed at the hospital. He hoped that the pop ups like that weren't normal. He wasn't going to like that if it was. He would ask Neji later, when he was more available.

He struggled down the halls, the day finally wearing down upon him. His eyes were drooping down time and time again. He smacked himself to keep awake. He looked out the window, it was now night. And him not going that fast to the destination, and him living across town it was late by the position of the moon. His stomach quaked with hunger, fitting since he had nothing to eat all day. He longed to breathe in the aroma of the ramen stand just as he longed for a cushy bed to lie on.

His thoughts then focused on his guest. She probably was hungry too. He decided that he would stop by Ichiraku before going home. With one last grumble of his stomach he rushed off.

He made it to the stand, hunger at its peak. He ordered a couple of miso ramen bowls and one to go. He got his first bowl and immediately inhaled the substance in the bowl. He didn't wait for anything as he started the next bowl that came to him.

He wondered how Tayuya was getting along at his house. From when he seen it earlier that day it didn't seem to have blown up in any way. One always assumes the worst from new houseguest, especially if they don't know the person. For all he knew she could be a pyromaniac, kleptomaniac, or something to that sort.

He would have rushed but he didn't care. He didn't even like the house, he had no neighbors, and nobody came through. Essentially he lived in a ghost town, one person in its population, well two now. At least, for the moment.

"Hey Naruto, thought you would be here." A familiar voice called from the back of him. He slurped down his sixth bowl and turned around. Not only was the voice familiar but the face and hair was too, pink hair. It was his teammate, Sakura. She took the stool to the left of him in the stand. He looked at her, apprehensive to what she had to say.

She didn't order anything, probably wasn't staying long. She turned to him a light smile on her face. Although her smile seemed sincere, her voice was grave, "I can't believe you did that to Sasuke-kun." Naruto twitched from the tone of her voice. He thought that something like this would happen. She continued, "And what is worse you didn't even apologize afterwards. You couldn't come and apologize to your best friend after almost killing him?" The word best friend had a grave impact on Naruto's temper. When he spoke, his voice ran cold, "Best friend, heh, that bastard tried to kill me." He turned to her with the last part of his sentence said. She tensed, but put it passed her. "Well if he was hurt that bad then you went to kill him first. I don't think Sasuke would just-" Naruto laughed at a heavy amount. He was actually trying to put down the anger and sadness he was feeling. After he finished the spurious laugh he began again, "I can believe you came here with the unfounded assessment that I attacked Sasuke and have the impudence to try and lecture me. Really, and then you haven't even heard my side. Or, I bet, in fact even heard the truth from Sasuke." Naruto's laugh was real by the time he ended his tirade. He didn't know how long that was held up but he finally got it out. Or, at least some of it.

Sakura was speechless, her mind racing to what happened. She was going to voice it, but Naruto was sick of conversation after meeting his teammate. Without listening to her words he got up and walked off. It was no personal hatred but hell if he was going to reason with anybody today. He heard yells and she even tried to catch up to him, but he lost her through some clever maneuvering.

As he heard her no more, he started to walk at a casual pace. His house wasn't that far away after this. He liked to stroll the rest of the way to his house. It was safe since the houses were all abandoned after a time. He reflected on the recent event. He was still pissed that she would just go up to him like that. But a part of his mind was sorry for his act toward her. He always felt hopeless around her, well, not at that moment. When he focused completely on her recently, it didn't have the same effect on him as it once did. And especially now that she did that.

He was so deep in thought that he almost when straight passed his house. When he caught himself he backtracked to the steps leading to his apartment. He came to the door, his fatigue coming back full force. He unlocked the obstructing entrance to his home. He would have immediately hit his face on the floor from exhaustion, if it were for the fact that his bed was far more comfortable.

He let down the item in his hand on the table and walked to his room. Then he looked back, and examined the aforementioned item. A sealed tight takeout bowl, that was full of ramen. He was wondering why he had this. Then it hit him, Tayuya was supposed to be in here. He looked around not finding the girl anywhere in the house, until he checked his room. The red head was fast asleep on his bed. Although his mind clouded with exhaustion, he thought against waking her up. He slowly tried to close the door without making a noise.

"Took you long enough, what did you and your friends have a f*****g party?" Came from the prone body of Tayuya. "It was one runner get over it." She sat up from the bed and stared at Naruto. "Or, where you busy getting in fights with bowl-haired green jumpsuit wearers?"

That was oddly specific. Naruto stood there, it took a while to get to him. When he finally got it he lightly laughed and said, "You seen, huh?" She nodded, and then he said, "Well, that one guy is a little eccentric." Naruto was avoiding the subject, hoping she would just drop it. Tayuya kept on at her prodding, "I meant for you to tell me why the hell an ally attacked you?" Then a possibility struck her, "We haven't been found out have we?"

Naruto shook his head, "No, no, not at all. He just likes to fight the strong. He must have felt as though it was sparring." Naruto chuckled, Lee did seem like the type to do that. Tayuya got frustrated, she felt as though he was missing something obvious. She got up from the bed and stood looking his in the eye. The words that came seemed impossible to Naruto, "From my view point, your window, you were declining his challenge. And then he goes and attacks you! If you didn't start to fight, worst case, you would have died. Think about this, he fought to kill." Naruto shook his head again, "No, you see he wasn't even using his full power."

"That just means he sees you as weak! He was just f*****g fighting to kill you dips**t!" She yelled out, deeply aggravated with him. Naruto was starting to get pissed off himself. "No, listen he is not like that, okay. He won't do something without his sensei's say." He could have nearly smacked himself for starting a new argument. Tayuya's words match exactly to what he thought she was going to say, "Then his sensei told him. I mean is there another reason to why you would be attacked in the village?"

Without hesitation, he said the most taboo words in the village, "I am the container of the Yoko No Kyuubi. Something I know my friends will accept."

Silence followed. Naruto, although regretting the decision, left the room. Sleep was his priority, and he didn't want to face her. Like all others he was almost dead sure that she would not accept the fact. "Go to sleep, if you can in a demon's house." The sadness in his voice rang through the house.

He found a comfortable place on his couch, even if it was too springy. He hoped for a dreamless sleep. As he waited to hear any silent screams or a way of escape from his room, slumber's warm arm took him in.

Chapter End

* * *

Chapter five is down and out. Thank you all those who are reading this. Ending this chapter bugged me and I had to revise and rewrite the middle many times before I accepted the product. Even though I accept this it still bugs me. But I have no other alternate put up, so sorry if it wasn't the way you thought the chapter should end. Next chapter is going to be harder for me since there is a huge gap in thoughts for the story. Don't worry I won't stop posting for those of you who were worrying. It will just be harder for me to come up with ideas.

Now to get on a different note. Yeah I did sort of did do some Sakura bashing earlier. But don't expect a lot of it. I don't usually bash any character from a series. I only had that to show a feed up Naruto. You will see more of that, if I don't stray far from my ideas. It happens.

That is all so I am now gone.


	6. Reality Changes

Hey Lumenatrum here. And I come with a gift, that you should have expected. Ch 6 of spiral tailed, see you should have been able to foresee that.

Anyway before the chapter and disclaimer, I have an announcement. Thanks to all my readers I have now over **1,000 **hits! Thank you all who helped with that. Again I bow.

Disclaimer: I. Do. Not. Own. The. Naruto. Series. If you still think this, well, you can't have the brains of Einstein. I am also not trying to claim the series, as you can see with this paragraph being called the disclaimer.

Now on to the story!

* * *

Reality Changes

Naruto felt the morning light hitting his face, its heat pouring onto his skin. The heat tried its way to steadily wake him from slumber. But slumber's grip held him with all it might, he didn't want out of its grasp. With each passing moment he wanted nothing to do with the world of awareness. But, it is inevitable to awake from sleep.

With the light outside his window pounding him to wake, he stretched his body out. He felt good stretching, as he was, a groan of pleasure came humming from his mouth. As he came to the end of the stretch, he dug his feet into something soft. He was confused to what it was that he dug into but his eyes refused to open. He wanted to voice his inquiry but he thought that talking to nothing would be idiotic. Instead he groaned as if to ask, some annoyance poured in. No answer came, so he decided to not delve into the mystery. Besides, he was starting to feel hungry. He sat up from his lying position and walked to his store of ramen in the cabinet.

"What, no good morning f****r? Wow what a way to treat a lady." A voice said with a little distain from behind him. His eyes came into full focus as he turned around to see the perpetrating voice. It was his new houseguest, Tayuya, sitting on the couch he slept on. "Oh" he paused, "You're still here?" In sincerity he thought she would have escaped during the night. Not many would stay in demon's house.

"Yeah I'm still here!" she almost yelled, "Why the hell would I leave?!" She stared at him. Naruto caught the gaze, it made him slightly uneasy. He looked away, it always happened when he was caught by her stare. "Do I really have to repeat it?" he asked her, still averting his eyes. She raised her eyebrow at him, wondering why he was acting like that. She then asked him, "The demon? What does that have to do with anything?" This time his eyes stared questioningly. She spoke so nonchalant about what many condemned him for. What so many abused him for. He stood for the first time able to lock eyes with her and keep it that way. He noticed how deep her gaze came to him, piercing was the word. Her eyes pierced deep into his. He could feel that she knew how much those words had affected him. It made him feel weak, all to weak. He didn't like how weak he felt, so he looked away making note to never do that again.

"Your village must be full of mother-f****rs if that is how they made you. Man you're a head case." With her words his suspicions were confirmed. He looked down, not wanting to catch her eyes again. "Yeah and I'm still here." He said mostly to himself. He still wondered to why he was still here. He looked back up at her making sure not to look into her eyes and said, "Well you hungry? I'll go get us some ramen." He walked to the kitchen and to his many cups of instant ramen when Tayuya called him from behind, "I had some yesterday, is that all you have?" He nodded to her; in a matter of fact it was all he had. She groaned, but ended up not caring, really was what they had at Oto any better?

Naruto heated up some water on his stove and got himself a cup of ramen and a cup for Tayuya. While he waited for the water to come to a boil, he went to go get a cup of milk for him and his guest. He opened the refrigerator door, picking up the carton of milk before he closed the door. He checked it for any lumps, and smelled it in case it was sour. Everything checked out, but Tayuya was a little put off that he had to do that. "What the hell is wrong with the f*****g milk?" she asked. He looked towards her before answering, "Well some times I forget to buy new milk so I have to check. This is a new carton." he assured her. He got two glasses, poured the milk into them, and gave one to Tayuya before drinking himself.

Naruto's morning routine wasn't shot to hell with his new companion. He had his morning meal, had a shower that was cut short when she told him to cut it short and leave water for her, and was off and out the door after he said his farewell to her.

* * *

He was off to the hospital to see if Neji and Choji were finally stable. He wasn't getting missions for a long time so he had to find a solution to his inevitable boredom. They were likely to have exciting battles, and be able to provide entertainment for him for a while.

He came into he inhabited part of the village, or well he came out of the uninhabited part. He passed by the ramen stand waving to the owner as he passed. His night encounter came to mind as he passed, but he kept the smile on his face. He kept it until he was out of sight by the man, then a large enraged frown played itself on his face. Passersby avoided him more heatedly when they seen the expression.

His mind played the day in an awful circle, Sakura's words playing over in his head. It hurt him that she would jump to conclusions for something like that. Blame him, and then try to judge and put him down. As he kept on replaying it in his head, his face some how got more twisted with anger than it already was.

The hospital came into sight, and Naruto managed to get his face into his usual cheery expression. He walked up to the entrance of the establishment. He walked thought the door, a dark feeling coming over him as walked in. It only stayed with him for a while. He walked to the upper levels or the building, finding Choji's room first. He walked it to see his friend looking rather different, something he could not place.

The Akamichi noticed him as soon as he walked in the room. He steadily got up, his body still slightly aching. "Hey Naruto." he greeted his visitor. Naruto raised his hand as a greeting gesture. The blonde took the seat next to the bed Choji laid in. "How are you doing?" Naruto asked having no real conversation prepared. Choji answered with, "Good, I should be after being healed in a hospital." Naruto chuckled, "Yeah, but I warn you there are sadistic nurses here." He leaned in to say it as if there were some listening. Choji snickered in response.

They continued to talk, most of it joking nonsense. They got onto topic about Choji's fight, which fascinated Naruto, although Choji's description of the event was blown up a bit. Choji talked about how he almost finished the man when he activated a sinister mark on him body that started to cover his body, changing his form. Naruto remembered Sasuke doing such a thing except for the transformation. As Choji continued telling Naruto that he was on the brink of life before he took his family's signature battle pill to strengthen himself. Choji continued on about his fight until the conclusion.

At the end Naruto was in awe. He couldn't believe that Choji beat someone like that. After that meaningless conversation continued. They continued talking for a while before Naruto set out to see Neji.

Naruto walked to the room of the Hyuga and opened the door. The white-eyed ninja was sitting in his bed being catered to by his teammate, Ten-ten. She was force-feeding him the hospital's food. All in all, Naruto found this to be comical. "Neji-san you have to eat! If not you will never get better!" she said to him with a spoon full of hospital gunk in her hand. She pushed the substance to the boy's face, but he turned his head away like a child. Naruto then spoke up in a child like tone, "Aw, does little Neji not like hospital pudding?" Naruto walked from the doorway to the foot of the bed. Neji looked at Naruto with an annoyed look. "Naruto if you had to eat this substance I can only define as crap you would not be talking." Neji retorted. Naruto shook his head, "No, see that is where you are wrong. I have had to eat this crap a lot lately."

Naruto sat down next to Ten-ten, who felt like she was being ignored. Naruto and Neji went on to conversing about Neji's battle. As they went on and Naruto heard that again one of the sound nins transformed he wondered if Tayuya could do anything like that. The conversation continued for a while going on to other things and some how eventually landed on mark to the battle between Naruto and Lee. Neji and Ten-ten immediately apologized for Lee's act. The conversation went on for again a while, before Ten-ten told Naruto that Neji would need his rest.

When Naruto was down a good distance he heard Neji yell, "It even tastes like crap!" He had a good come back for that but he decided to just go on.

He was about to leave when a nurse came up to him in the hall. "Are you Uzumaki Naruto?" she asked. He nodded in response. She then told him, "Uchiha Sasuke would like to see you. He has been asking for you ever since he woke up this morning." Naruto twitched as Sasuke's name was mentioned. "Why does he want to see me?" Naruto asked with more distain than curiosity. The nurse gestured that it was unknown. Naruto sighed and started walking to the room Sasuke inhabited for the moment.

As he came close he noticed that Ino and Sakura were there too. But he knew Sasuke didn't ask for them. Ino gave Naruto a death stare while Sakura was just standing, her face turned away. As he came closer to the door and he passed by Ino, he heard her curse him under her breath. He entered the room; he noticed first that the Uchiha was covered behind a blind. "So you came." Sasuke said, "Good, good." Naruto was creeped-out by the feel of the room, which he noticed the others didn't notice.

"Uzumaki Naruto." Sasuke said Naruto's name slowly. Naruto felt a pulse of energy comb over him. A deep chuckle bellowed itself from behind the blind. The silhouette of the Uchiha started to change. The laughing became harder and more insane. Appendages stripped from the back of the silhouette. The silhouette stood slowly, before the Uchiha ripped the blind out of the way.

The form Sasuke was in shocked Naruto. The hair of the Uchiha was much longer, the white of his eyes now black with his sharingan activated. But the most shocking change was the hand like appendages that came out of his back. Naruto heard screaming from behind him. He risked a look, the screaming came from both Ino and Sakura, the nurse was long gone. When he looked back Sasuke punched him in the face. Naruto flew back from the force, hitting into the wall of the hospital room. The girls were shell shocked that their Sasuke could take that form.

Naruto looked at the Uchiha from his embedded position in the wall. Sasuke stared back at him. "You dared to stop me from my ambition. Now you will pay the price." Sasuke told to Naruto. Sasuke started to walk to Naruto's stuck body. Unbelievably the girls came to shield Naruto's body. But with a swift swipe of his hand Sasuke took them out of his sight. His focus was Naruto.

Sasuke pounded his clenched fist into Naruto's stomach, earning him blood to come from the blonde's mouth. The wall collapsed from the force of the punch. Naruto found himself on the ground looking up at the now monstrous Sasuke. Sasuke picked Naruto up by the collar of his jacket. "You will never have enough power to defeat me." Sasuke whispered loud enough for Naruto to hear. The volume of Sasuke's voice rose considerably, "I will leave! And neither you nor these two b*****s can stop me!"

With that Sasuke threw Naruto to the window of his room. Naruto crashed through the glass and fell to the ground five stories below headfirst.

"I…I can't let this happen." Naruto said as he fell. He felt a peak in is chakra. "I am going to take him down." He growled as the ground came closer. He focused his chakra to his feet on the heel. He condensed it and released it as he was close to landing point. The force of the release shot his body into a flip. He land on his feet, he would have congratulated himself but there were other priorities. He ran up to the room of the hospital he was thrown from, pushing past nurses and doctors as he went. When he came up to the room he saw Sasuke holding up Sakura by the neck. Naruto ran up to the Uchiha and tackled as soon as he was close enough. Sasuke let the pink haired girl go as he fell. Naruto recovered himself as he and Sasuke were falling and punched the Uchiha as they landed. He got up his other hand and again punched Sasuke.

Sasuke kicked Naruto off, and got back on his feet. Without his weapon pouch available, Sasuke grabbed a vase of flower from the table near his bed and threw it at Naruto; it landed on his face. The vase being made of glass, the shards that were produced from the impact cut into Naruto, making the blondes face bloody. The girls whined as they seen their flowers fall on the ground.

Naruto rushed Sasuke, the blood running down his face. After covering some distance Naruto jumped and spin-kicked Sasuke, square on the jaw. Naruto landed and grabbed Sasuke, who was still reacting to the kick. He threw Sasuke against one of the walls of the room they were still in. Naruto summoned a clone and concentrated his chakra to his right hand while his clone twisted the concentrated chakra around with his own. But before the technique could be completed a scalpel, thrown by the Uchiha, shot into the head of the clone disbanding the jutsu.

Naruto growled again, his finisher, the Rasengan, was how he was going to end this. Then the transformed Sasuke kicked off the wall, destroying it in his wake. Naruto noticed in one of Sasuke's hands was the Chidori, his finisher. With a burst of chakra he rushed to the side milliseconds before the technique hit. Sasuke pulled his arm out of the wall his jutsu ripped through when it hit. He swiftly rushed Naruto, arm readied for an uppercut. He hit Naruto directly on the chin, launching the blonde into the air.

Naruto fell on his back. Sasuke allowed Naruto slowly get back up. When Naruto was on full feet he and Sasuke stared at each other with death glares.

All the while both girls were in awe as they had seen everything happen.

Naruto then roared, his face tilted up facing the sky. It spilt through many ears. It was blood curdling and reaching. With it Naruto focused all his chakra to his hand. He formed the rasengan, although much larger than its normal counterpart. Naruto ran swiftly almost to fast for Sasuke's sharingan to see and plowed it into the gut of the Uchiha. It ended up knocking Sasuke out, and leaving his body limp. Naruto picked up Sasuke's body and put it on his bed, which had minor damage from the battle.

He sighed deeply and looked at the girls who were focused on him. They stared at him with much confusion and shock. He didn't care for any talk now, so he left the room with the girls looking at him as he left. Ino was the first to get up and go after him, Sakura coming up from behind.

"What the hell was that?!" Naruto heard behind him. He didn't turn hoping it was a hint that could be caught. "Naruto!" he heard, picking up his speed as it left mouth. He looked back to see them not taking the hint. He was about to break into a run when a nurse stood in front of him.

"My god! You're bleeding!" she announced to him as she looked at his torn face. "What room are you staying in?" She asked. She took his hand dragging him to the stairway. The girls caught up with him, telling the nurse they knew where he was staying. The nurse left without word, and Naruto cursed her in his mind. The girls only took him down the hall, before just dropping him. There was a silence that followed. It allowed Naruto to pick out the left shards in his face, lest they be left there when he healed.

Finally Ino spoke up, "Naruto, what the hell was that? You beat him. You beat Sasuke-kun." She went on to ask a series of questions that amounted up to how. Naruto sat in the place they had him held, not looking at either. He felt as though they were going to criticize him, criticize him for saving them, they were ungrateful. He looked up and said, "Why does it matter when you're alive?" Neither of them said anything, nor did they look at him. He took a chance and swiftly made the hand signs for the Kawarimi no Jutsu.

When the girls looked back a potted plant from the hospital hallway had taken Naruto's place.

* * *

Naruto stood in the street that was being over looked by the hospital. He did it and they probably just found out. He saw them looking at him from the fifth floor of the hospital. He grinned; he really left them in the dust. Before they even started to follow he took off. Going over the rooftops to get to his house quickly**.**

He landed a block away from his house and decided to walk the rest of the way.

Sasuke had attacked him again and as soon as the girl told their versions of it he was probably going to be executed. They only cared about Sasuke. His life would end here, at the age of thirteen. He sighed, cursing everything. He didn't want to have this, any of it. But life gave it to him. It was only his decision to how he was going to have it turn out.

Was he really going to accept death? "Hell no." he stated to assure himself. He wasn't going to go be put out of this world by any way. Not if he had say.

He came to the stairs of his apartment building. He climbed to his house, each step making him more determined not to die.

He opened the door of his house, seeing Tayuya sitting on the couch reading an orange book. He walked a few steps before he did a double take. He ran up to Tayuya about to yell 'where did you get that' before she covered his mouth shutting him up. "Some old fart is here. He gave me it. Oh, and the story is I am f*****g you, got it?" she said. Blood rushed to Naruto's head when he heard the last part.

Naruto had a guess to who was there, and it was confirmed as soon as the familiar white haired old man came from the bathroom. "Ero-sennin, what the hell are you doing here?" Naruto almost shouted. Jiraiya looked at the blonde youth, smirking as he made eye contact. "Well nothing but getting to know the beauty you have staying with you. Ah, young love found in the ramen stand." Jiraiya said in the usual eccentric way he would to announce himself. Naruto looked from him to Tayuya, his eyes clearly telling her what a good guess that was. Jiraiya moved quickly to Naruto's side and continued, "I tell ya boy, I never thought that you would have a girl staying with you. And, aren't you to young for the full happiness of love?" Naruto stood there for a second before it registered; he remembered the only other time the old man used that phrase. It was during the 'growing up' talk. "You old bastard, like I would want to talk to you about that!" Jiraiya smiled more lecherously, "So, how was it? It must have been good if her legs are banged up like that." Naruto could have died without wanting to hear that from Jiraiya. Jiraiya continued, "She told me you have been doing this for a couple months." Naruto looked at Tayuya again who just shrugged while Jiraiya went on, "But I have seen you trying to get that pink headed girl in the sack for so long."

Without missing a beat, Tayuya spoke up, "What was that!?" Jiraiya looked back, and nodded to her, "It is such a shame that he would be unfaithful like that. But alas, it is true." Tayuya death glared Naruto, while the latter spoke up, "No, it is not like that. She is only a friend, a teammate. Besides I stopped trying to get her when I met you." He was trying to be reassuring. Tayuya looked away while saying, "So I am only a second choice." Naruto ran to her side, "No, that is not it. I stopped because you are better than her and I had to have you." Tayuya retorted, "Oh, so then, I am only a item to you?"

All the while Jiraiya had a notebook out taking notes on the two. The fight continued while Jiraiya got to the end of his notes. He got some good ideas, and was going to put them to good use. He stepped up to the fighting couple. He patted Naruto on the head and walked out of the house.

They each waited five minutes before stopping. As soon as they stopped they looked toward the door, they didn't hear anything. Naruto checked the door and all the windows before nodding to Tayuya. She slumped down on the couch, sighing in relief. Naruto sat next to her, also sighing. They exchanged glances and Naruto started laughing. "Man, we deserve an award for that." he said to his companion. She nodded, starting to laugh too, "You got that right." Naruto looked at her still smiling, "I can't believe you told him we were doing it." She turned her head to him, "I wasn't thinking but, hey, it looked as if he believed it."

"Yeah." Naruto said as he got up, his voice going somber. "What has got you?" Tayuya asked. Naruto turned to her, and scratched the back of his head. He looked directly at her, "I messed up." She immediately tensed, "Wha- what? What happened?" He looked down, anger filling him. "I was attacked by my teammate, Uchiha Sasuke. I won but there are two who will twist the story to where I will be blamed. I just know they are going to do that." Tayuya stood on her still minor wounded legs. She walked to the blonde, "What do you think is going to happen?"

"We are going to leave." He said. Before he could hear Tayuya's response he felt a tug at his mind. It was much harder and more violent than before. His resident called him.

* * *

Naruto found himself in the middle of the spiral that was the center of the Kyuubi's cage chamber. He stood exactly where he remembered the Kyuubi had fallen.

"_**So boy," **_the familiar voice of the Kyuubi rang behind him. He turned to see a figure that had the same composition as himself. It was, in fact, too much like him. The only difference was the figure was too animalistic to be him. It had ears reminiscent of a fox, paw like hands with sharp claws, and tails were seen moving and flicking themselves behind the figure. Nine tails.

"_**I see you got it, and without a hint. Good for you."**_ The figure told Naruto. It continued, _**"As you should have figured out. I am Yoko No Kyuubi!" **_With that the creature cried out with manic laughter.

It focused on Naruto, and picked up its feet to move toward him. In a matter of seconds it was in his face while it clawed him in the gut.

Chapter End

* * *

And that is the end of that chapter. That means six is down, with a cliffhanger of sorts.

If you are going to criticize me for ending it like that then wait until next chapter. I went to far with that, and got to a place that I thought was far off. Seriously I thought I would be at this part after two more chapters. But that is how my mind wanders and deconstructs my ideas.

Review the story. Now with that I am out of here.


	7. Core Shaken

Lumenatrum is back with the next chapter of, do I need to say it, Spiral Tailed.

I hope you're still thinking about the last chapter, because recaps don't happen here. We will jump into the story after the disclaimer.

Disclaimer: There is no way in heaven or the fire of hell that I own Naruto. So stuff it. I don't claim it, this is a fan-work. So, again, stuff it.

Story down there.

* * *

Core Shaken

The claws dug into his skin of his abdominal area, burning his nerves like fire. The feral image of himself that was now the Kyuubi, stared deep into his eyes. It looked like an exact copy of him except for the claws, the tail, and the eyes. The fire-like color of the eyes, branded themselves into his brain in an instant.

Naruto felt the spectral blood flow down his body, his own blood. He dared not look, fearing the grotesque sight that surely played itself down on his stomach. He could have retched thinking of the sight. The Kyuubi spoke, its voice resounding in his inner ear, _**"Your rules never involved me not taking over!"**_ Naruto immediately registered the words that seemed to flow out the mouth of the Kyuubi. It continued, _**"Besides, I'm a demon, I never make a real promise to a human, you little filth!"**_

It threw Naruto to its side, cutting more into the blonde's abdomen. Naruto landed on his gut, making the pain worse. Blood spewed everywhere on the floor of the massive chamber. Naruto held his open stomach, making sure no contents made their way out. The Kyuubi inspected its now bloody claws and licked the red liquid off them. The fox hummed in pleased hunger, _**"Human blood, something only a real demon can enjoy."**_

"Y-yo-you b-_bastard_!" Naruto stuttered out, emphasizing the last word. The Kyuubi turned a swift head to Naruto, all the musing over blood gone from his face. Its face suddenly jerked up, snarling as it did, _**"What was that filth! What did you call a superior being, compared to the pure trash you so clearly are!"**_

Naruto, still from his facedown position, yelled his previous words out, "You bastard!" The Kyuubi didn't take kindly to the defiance that Naruto displayed. It walked up to Naruto, still snarling as it went. As it came close it jumped into the air, its feet poised for a stomp. It landed directly on Naruto's back, cracking the blonde's spine. Naruto wailed terribly, the pain too much for his body. But unconsciousness never came, as he already was.

"_**Boy I have a lesson for you in your next life: never mock a demon. It won't get you anything. But a faster advance to death."**_ The Kyuubi told the crushed Naruto. Naruto smirked; he wasn't going down not defying the already irate fox. "You have lied to me so far so how do I know what you say is true?" The Kyuubi growled, _**"You want proof! I will give you the proof you want!" **_It lifted its leg up, slowly putting it over Naruto's head. As it had its aim right on mark it reared the leg back. At the maximum height the leg could reach, it fell with guillotine force.

But then it was caught, by the invisible force of chakra. Naruto had channeled a major amount of chakra to the landing spot before impact. Although sudden in initiation, it was able to stop the foot of the Kyuubi. Naruto breathed hard, using more chakra at once than he ever did. But oddly, he wasn't as tired as he thought from chakra exhaustion.

He remembered how he did this in other times, and that this was no different in how he would disperse the chakra. He had the perfect name for it now, he breathed in to try to help control the mass of chakra that hovered above his face. He expelled his breath with tremendous words following, **"****Kouasshuku**** Heki!"**[1]

With the words escaping his mouth, the mass of chakra burst from his face launching the still pressing Kyuubi's foot off. Naruto had a plan now, although all in all it was more of a rip off of the Hyuga taijutsu. His wounds healed thanks to the Kyuubi still being connected. He got up facing the Kyuubi and rushed it. The Kyuubi was still recovering from the launching. Naruto reared back a fist, ready to strike. Naruto only did a punch to the foxes face. The fox easily dodged it, but was unsuspecting when a pressure burst of chakra shot off of Naruto's arm, hitting his face. The chakra burned him oddly enough, bizarrely enough, impossibly enough. But a minor burn from chakra wasn't going to stop this demon from freedom, which he so lusted for.

It slashed it claws, hitting Naruto around the chest. Naruto cringed under the pain, but wasn't about to let it stop him. He kicked the fox in the side, making it lose it footing. The fox fell to the floor, but recovered itself. It rushed Naruto coping his earlier move. Naruto fell but as he was going to recover one of the Kyuubi's tails crashed down on his form. The others flicked as the one fell upon Naruto. He was pinned by the tail, its strength out of the ordinary.

The Kyuubi spoke to the pinned Naruto, _**"Really boy, I am one of the most wise and powerful of my kind. How are you, a mere human child filth rejected by him own, going to beat me?" **_The Kyuubi sat on Naruto after removing the tail. It smirked that toothy smirk before speaking again, _**"Tell me. How are you going to do it?" **_It leaned in to hear Naruto's words. Naruto clenched his teeth. As he opened his mouth to speak the Kyuubi got up and stomped on him. Naruto whimpered, his teeth grinding themselves. _**"What was that?" **_it said to Naruto. Naruto was again about to open his mouth, when the Kyuubi stomped again. _**"What?" **_it mocked. Naruto did nothing, his back feeling like it was broken. _**"Weak." **_The Kyuubi said, _**"That is all you humans are. Blinded by your ability to kill each other and those who are lesser, thinking that it is real power. And thinking that false power gives you rule. I will make this world see what true power is. All I need is your body."**_

"_**Give it here" **_the Kyuubi held out its hand. Naruto, not knowing why, grabbed it, and started to feel an immediate draining feeling. His body felt as if it was deteriorating. His eyes became heavy, his legs wobbly, and his body limp. He felt a dark embrace he felt to be what death was.

Death had come for him, but why him? He was too young; he was only a child. Was he really accepting this? His head screamed no, not even in his actual death would he accept it.

His grip on the Kyuubi's hand, that had been slipping, tightened, surprising the fox as he did. He focused the remnants of his chakra to his hand, and let go of it in a burst. "**Kouasshuku heki!**" Naruto yelled. The burst shot on the Kyuubi's hand form the connection they shared. The Kyuubi took back his hand, cradling it in his other. _**"Always the strong willed one aren't you? Fine, I'll take the body by force. It would be more fun for me that way." **_

It pulled back its clawed hand, then made a wide slash forward. Naruto dodged the claw and tried to grab at the fox. But his hands were heavy and were not as fast he would be used to. The Kyuubi brushed his hand away with ease and grabbed him instead. It threw him across the chamber; he hit the wall on the other side. Within seconds it was by his side, breathing on him through its teeth. It started to chuckle, going on as it grew into a deep laugh.

"_**Boy I am immortal, you have no means to-" **_Naruto grabbed at the Kyuubi. He felt strength from somewhere; it felt exactly like the Kyuubi's chakra. He didn't know what was going on but it would be the greatest insult to defeat the Kyuubi with it own power. He brought up his hand, his face mocking the Kyuubi's smirk. The Kyuubi was hanging from Naruto's hand. Naruto slammed the fox into the wall they were near. There was a cracking sound ringing around chamber. He let the fox fall limp from his hand. It struggled to get up, but it did. He swiftly punched the fox as it got its footing, using kouasshuku heki as did. The fox was shot back to the middle of the chamber, Naruto following him.

The Kyuubi skidded along the ground, coming to a slow stop. Naruto jumped in the air stomping on the Kyuubi as he landed. With it another burst was shot from Naruto, pulsing off of his feet to the ground where the Kyuubi lay. The pressure ripped into the Kyuubi almost like the seal fail-safe. Naruto sat on the Kyuubi's stomach, and proceeded to punch the creature's face, which was coping his. He got a few good ones in before the creature opened its mouth, biting his hand as hit came down. Naruto took back his hand, only to bring it back on the chest of the creature. The Kyuubi coughed in reaction, and growled at Naruto. It pushed him off landing on its feet as it did.

It rushed him, its legs seeming to not hit the ground as it did. It brought down a claw on Naruto, who about to hit the ground. The claws dug into him again and sped up his decent. The ground quaked as he hit it. Blood spewed out of his mouth. He had his chakra envelop his body again and condensed it. "**Shuuichou Heki****!**"[2] An explosion of chakra blew the Kyuubi away from Naruto.

All at once Naruto's vision got blurry, the room shook tremendously, and a voice called in his head. The voice was deep and reaching, "Destroy it. The spiral. Use it."

Naruto's vision slowly came back. He seen the Kyuubi lying on the spiral the voice was talking about, the spiral that was the center of the chamber.

Naruto ran to the Kyuubi, and jumped a second time. He poised his feet for another stomp. Naruto landed on the creature's gut, it making a howl as he did. Naruto then started to channel his chakra into the spiral.

He held the fox demon down while he was channeling the chakra. After a few seconds the spiral started spinning, an optical illusion made it seem as though the spiral became like a whirlpool. Naruto jumped off the body of the fox. He landed on the outside of the giant spiral. Slowly the floor in the middle of the spiral started to sink, a ripple effect making the rest sink too. The Kyuubi was pulled into the floor, roaring as it was.

It looked straight at Naruto, snarling, it said, _**"Fine, if you won't accept becoming a part of me." **_It paused, _**"Then I will live on as a part of you! And, boy, you will fulfill my wishes! For they will be your wishes too!" **_It cackled as it said the last part. Its form changed back into that of a blood-furred fox. It was gigantic once more, and it looked down at Naruto. It lifted its paws up and brought them down with earth shattering force. The floor cracked, and broke into pieces. A gargantuan explosion of chakra came from the fox. On the debris of the spiral patterned floor seemed to change, the spiral turned form. Changing into a foxtail from the looks of it.

Naruto felt an extreme throb at his head. His head started to feel as if it was cracking into pieces. His teeth were clenched to the point of being on the verge of cracking. He screamed at the top of his lungs.

All the while the Kyuubi was still pushing out its chakra. It then tried to grab at Naruto, trying to escape this. Naruto was too far away, and each second it sunk into the ground. It brought back its paws to the ground and channeled its chakra into the place where the spiral was located.

All the debris was sucked in towards the Kyuubi, covering it. The implosion continued until all of the debris were no longer spread out. It was at that point that Naruto lost his projection and consciousness.

* * *

Naruto woke up, still in his mindscape, although everything felt out of place. The chamber was gone, replaced by a different room. It was a room fit for nobility, like a throne room. (A/N Japanese throne room)

In the middle seemed to be a table. Over looking it, on the ceiling, was a wall design. A foxtail, twisted into a spiral. The tail originated from the middle of the spiral. Except for the table and the wall design the room was empty.

Naruto looked around, finding four doors in the room. A large door was located to the north, and three in an alcove to the room he was in to the south.

He walked north, looking at the large door. It was a double sliding door. He reached for it and opened the right slider. It led to a larger room, which was empty except for something far on the other side. Naruto walked to the end of it, noticing more designs on the walls. Most notable was the design on the far wall; it was a nine-tailed fox being stood up to by a single person. The man was cloaked with red eyes. Every second Naruto looked at that man he became more and more angry. As he stood at the foot of the design he came upon the object he seen from across the massive room. It was a single chair; throne was a better word for it.

It looked extremely comfortable. Tempted, Naruto sat on it. The pleasure he felt upon just touching it was indescribable. The chair melted him and gave him a feeling of being untouchable. He was invincible on this throne and he would have nothing else.

Before he got too comfortable, curiosity got the better of him and he went to check the other doors. He walked down the rug he noticed he had walked on all the way to the throne. He took in the other designs that littered the walls of the room, many depicting a fox. There was no real order but each picture depicted a different number of tails on the foxes. He noticed that each one had a normal coloring for a fox; that is until the tails came to nine. The fox that had nine tails had a white-gold sheen to its fur. And the one that came after that, which also had nine tails, was blood red. That one also had a deep black lining. Naruto felt sadness for the design, he didn't know why.

He came upon the door and seen one last design, on the top of the door. It showed a young man fighting the dark figure in the one across the room. Naruto clenched his fist and walked out the door.

In the room that now seemed more like a conference room after he seen the last one. He walked around the table, going to the alcove to the south. He came upon the three doors, each one on a wall of the alcove. He stood there deciding on which door to go through. He took the door directly to the front of him, the south door.

It was another sliding door; he opened it up to see an empty room. There were not any designs, no tables, nor any doors than the one that led in. It was an empty room, from corner to corner. Naruto closed the door; he lost interest in the room. He turned around, looking at the other to doors. The right one caught his eye; it was an iron door. He turned to the left to see a normal sliding door, like the others. What was behind the iron door, Naruto questioned this.

He walked up to the door. Getting a feel of the door before he opened it. The feeling was odd. It burned and froze his hand, simultaneously. Naruto was concerned to what that could have meant, but curiosity was telling him to open the door.

He pulled it open, a stomach turning, chilling, and evil feeling washed over him. The room was covered by a thick black veil. It didn't give view into the room, but that didn't stop him from feeling the danger that he could sense inside the room. He closed the door curious no more.

The turned to the final room, that lay across from him. The door slid open to reveal a library of sorts. It had shelves of scrolls and books stacked in no apparent order. His head throbbed, and information made itself into his head. These works were the Kyuubi's knowledge made print. He walked down the room, shelves lined up in a row at either side of him. He walked to the very back of the room; a small table resided there.

On it were several works, a couple of scrolls and a book. Naruto picked up the work in the middle, a scroll. It caught his eye because it was labeled jutsu. He opened the scroll. The jutsu depicted on the on the scroll were foreign to Naruto. The first one on the list was the **Kitsune-bi No Jutsu**. It allowed the user, with a special affiliation, to shoot fire or lighting from their mouth or limbs. Naruto looked at the affiliation, and it puzzled him. It said that a yokai affiliation was needed. In all his life he never heard about that affiliation.

He closed the scroll and looked at the one to the right, its design reminded him of the fox for some reason. He opened the scroll, it read:

**_By the time you read this, your mind will have changed. You should have noticed that. I am the one who made this happen. I have become apart of your mind, but your body has yet to receive my gift. If you want my infinite power at you disposal take this scroll into the south room and channel your chakra._**

_**Now on to business. You are in the room of your mind where you are able to access all my memories and knowledge. If you want all of it is at your whim to read. But be wary, not all of my knowledge is to be shared. **_

_**The left scroll, that I know you probably have already read, is filled with jutsu that is open to you after you have been granted my power. The right, is my mission for you.**_

Naruto looked to the right scroll. He closed the one in hands and set it down, having finished it. He picked up the other scroll; it was about the Uchiha clan. Or, rather about their eyes. The sharingan in it most powerful form, Mangekyo, has many effects depending on the user and the means of how they got it. But, one effect remains true, the Mangekyo has the power to control kitusne. Most notably it can control the Kyuubi. One Uchiha used this power on the Kyuubi, a man by the name of Madara. This man took control of the Kyuubi and had it set loose on Konoha.

Naruto barred his teeth to this. Though the reason that he was angry were the opposite of what would be thought. Naruto spoke aloud, "This man had the gall to take control of the Kyuubi?" Naruto read further learning that his mission given to him by the Kyuubi was to destroy this man for his arrogance.

Naruto looked over to the scroll to his left side. He picked it up and ran to the south room.

Chapter End

* * *

And cut! End scene! Chapter seven is now done. Thank you to those of you who read this.

[1] **Kouasshuku Heki- **pressure burst (like others it is loose in translation.)

[2] **Shuuichou Heki- **perimeter burst (again loose.)

Again the original idea got away from me, but these results are better in my mind. The library was a newer idea, since in a fusion the two fused cannot speak to each other.

Thank you again. And review this new chapter. Later.


	8. Naruto no Kyūbi

Lumenatrum here with Ch 8 of Spiral Tailed. I want to thank you all for the feedback I got from the last post.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto series. If I did, why am I posting fanfiction about it? There is your proof. I am not claiming it hence disclaimer. This is a fan work. Get it through your heads, for this is the eighth time this has been said.

_**Announcement:**_

As of today I will start to slow down on my updates. I don't plan on abandoning the fic but school will take up most of my time. So expect delays. The updates may go to once in two weeks. I will try to keep that schedule.

Also I have started a poll, i would be great to have your feedback

Read! Read it now!!!!!!!

* * *

Naruto no Kyūbi

He ran to the south room; scroll in hand. Naruto knew what it would do, he also knew he wanted this. He had wanted this since the first day he learned about the Kyuubi. It was power he wanted and power he needed. It would make him powerful enough to gain anything he needed.

He was out the library now, and turned to his right, to the door that led to the south room. He opened the sliding door and walked inside. It was still empty and void of anything except the floor, walls, and ceiling. But as he came into the room with the scroll, a spiral appeared in the middle of the room. He walked until he was before the origin point of the spiral. He set the scroll in the middle of the spiral.

Suddenly the scroll opened, revealing a seal. Near the seal were instructions; they told him to channel his chakra into the seal. He slammed his hand down on the seal and flowed his chakra in to it. The room became bright red; the walls, floor, and ceiling becoming chakra. All the chakra showered down on Naruto, merging into him. He smiled wildly, bearing his teeth as he did. He felt it envelop him, and he couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculous amount of power he felt.

* * *

Jiraiya sat on top of the stone head of Sarutobi's statue. He knew some sketchy details about what was going on with Naruto. He chose to not do anything; he couldn't stop it now. He looked down to the village; he didn't think that they would take kindly to him once they find out. So in this case, Naruto's plan was for the best.

He smiled lecherously, and Naruto did get a pretty girl out of this. He would follow the kid, to help him, he told himself; but, if he got some good ideas for the next Icha Icha, well, then good for him. He got out his telescope, and channeled his chakra to his eyes. He brought up the item to one of his eyes and closed the other. With it and his chakra enhanced eyes, he could see all the way to Naruto's apartment. He looked into the window of the apartment. Naruto was lying on the couch, it seemed his little guest moved him. He had been unconscious for to long, Jiraiya thought. He hoped for the boy's sake that the final fail-safe was told to him. If it wasn't there was no hope for the village. In an instant, a red flash beamed from Naruto's apartment. The whole village could have seen it.

Jiraiya jumped back in surprise. There was no way that could have been good. He got on to his feet and ran to Naruto's house.

* * *

Tayuya was sitting next to the unconscious Naruto; she had moved him after he had knocked out. This had been the second time in two days, she wondered if it was a daily thing for him. She looked at him; he had a peaceful to her. Of course, she never really saw much peace in Oto.

Then it happened. She felt it ahead of time. A sweeping feeling went over her. Then, Naruto started to glow a piercing red. Tayuya looked at the boy, eyes wide with shock. A toothy smirk played itself on Naruto, when a flood of power was released. It washed over Tayuya, actually pushing her back with the pressure.

Naruto slowly got up, his head down with the smirk still playing on him. The shear power was now circling him, like a vortex. It was like a whirlwind in the house, almost literally. Naruto stood there for a while, in the center of the whirlwind. Then he took a breath in, the power was sucked into him all at once. Everything settled in an instant, the whirlwind was gone.

All the while Tayuya had moved to the wall, holding herself there. "Naruto? Are you okay?" she asked. Naruto looked at her, his blue eyes were ringed by crimson and his pupils were like vertical slits, becoming wide and rounded in the middle.

He lifted his feet, and started to walk towards her, talking as he did, "Naruto, I guess, since I am using his body I should take on his name. Out of respect for the dead." Tayuya pulled herself closer to the wall. Is this the Kyuubi, she asked herself. Naruto continued to talk, "But, girl, you will talk to me by title. I am now Naruto no Kyūbi. [1] I am you superior, filth, and I will be treated as such." They were face to face now, Tayuya fearing for her life. She didn't want to think about what the demon wanted but legends told her all she needed to know. The being then pushed his face closer to hers. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see what would happen. To her surprise, the being went to her ear instead.

"Got you Tayuya-chan." Naruto whispered in her ear. Tayuya opened her eyes, shocked again, for the fifth time in the last ten minutes. He took his head back and looked at her, a smile as bright as the sun on his face. Then realization came to what he called her, Tayuya-chan, and blood rushed to her face. Another realization came abruptly after the last, he also called her filth! "F****r! Don't call me filth!" she yelled as she went to punch his gut. He caught the punch, his grip light on her hand. "Now, now Tayuya-chan, don't play rough." Tayuya looked at his hand, he was caressing hers. Tayuya blushed and Naruto looked down as well. Upon sight he let go, turning his head away as he did, his face redder than hers. He only wanted to mess with her and he went too far. They stood in silence for a while.

Then Jiraiya came through the door, panting. They looked at him, and Naruto immediately went to the act, "Hey, ero-sennin, Tayuya and me made up." A smile played on his face. Jiraiya's face didn't show amusement, "Naruto, this isn't the time. You have to get going." Naruto looked at the man, eyes questioning the him. He looked at Tayuya, who shrugged, her face matching his. Naruto was about to open his mouth when Jiraiya ran up to him. "The whole village could have seen that flash. You and Tayuya should get out of here, fast. It won't fare well for you, especially since you have been hiding her." He paused, "Pack lightly." With that Jiraiya ran out the door.

Naruto looked at Tayuya, his face displaying deep fear. He ran to the room, he looked back and told Tayuya to stay there.

He got his pack from his closet and a few articles of clothing from his drawers. He loaded the clothes in the pack and went for his stash of money. He went to his bed and pulled out an iron box with a lock on it. Not wanting to look for the key, he broke the lock with a chakra burst. Inside the box was enough money to back a small village that he kept for a 'rainy day'. He took it all and put it in the pack.

He ran out of the room, his pack in hand. He got up to Tayuya, and looked at her legs. He bent down and felt them; Tayuya was shocked as he did so. Her legs were still damaged. He couldn't remember the jutsu he used and was running out of time. He picked her up bridal-style, "Your legs don't look good enough for running yet. I don't want you to get hurt even more." Before she could respond he ran out the door.

He took to the rooftops, to get to a breach in the wall of Konoha faster. He looked below him; a mob was formed in each street he jumped over. "They got organized fast" he heard Tayuya comment. He would have laughed if it weren't such a dire time. He wondered how she could joke at a time like this. He put it past him as her way of dealing with this. Only this morning everything was fine.

As he past over mobs he heard them shout things like, 'there is the demon!', 'he kidnapped a girl!', or 'exorcize it!'. His face burned with hatred at their comments. Suddenly a kunai was thrown past him from behind. "We got chuunin and jonin on our tail!" Tayuya shouted. Naruto picked up his pace. He heard one of the nin behind him yell out, "This is the day we end it demon. You really picked a body," the man laughed, "the dumba** Uzumaki. You won't last. Not even if you get out of the village."

The nin's words caught him. They really thought he was that weak. He beats their Uchiha, twice. And he is weak. "Let's end this with a bang." He said to where only him and Tayuya could hear. He looked down at her, "We're going to stop for a second." As he said that he abruptly stopped on a building. He stood there, waiting for the nin.

"So you gonna take us on are you? You must have lost your mind, demon." The nin that was talking earlier said to Naruto. Naruto gave no warning; he rushed the nin and with a kunai slashed at the man's stomach. As the man doubled over on his slashed gut, Naruto kneed the man in the face. He looked around; there were five more he needed to deal with. He dashed towards the closest one and slashed up with his kunai, cutting the man from the gut to the face. One ran up to him from behind, katana ready to stab into Naruto's back. Naruto turned and swept the ground with his foot, knocking the man off balance. Naruto got back up and used kouasshu heki on the man as he was falling. Blown back by the force of the pressure, the man was shot back, hitting another man and launching them both off the building. Naruto looked at the last man, ready to go. The man took one look into Naruto's eyes and turned tail. Naruto laughed at how easy that all was. And they were at higher ranks than him, pitiful.

He picked up Tayuya and was on the run again.

* * *

After running for a while Naruto and Tayuya found themselves in the forest that surrounded the village. They out ran most who dared to follow after Naruto's little show. The only ones now were the elite jonin and anbu. Each was sure that Naruto was now possessed.

He didn't want to run forever, he brought his hand into a seal. With a gigantic cloud, thousands of clones of Naruto, half in the form of Tayuya, were manifested. While they were spreading out, Naruto took a hard left. He picked up speed as he went, pushing his legs hard. The forest they were in, blurred as Naruto ran through it, but he was still able to navigate through. As they kept on going, pushing past trees and other foliage, the forest got more dense, making it harder for Naruto to go at high speed. "Tayuya-chan you see anyone behind us?" Although she was shaken a bit from him using the suffix, she was still able to speak, "No, it's clear."

Naruto slowed down, going to a medium run. Although they were deep in the forest, they were still in Konoha and that was not what was wanted. He trekked through the forest, making sure to keep his pace up. He was more at ease because he lost the crowd, but he wasn't going to be too sedate.

Half an hour passed without any interruptions. Bored, Naruto looked up at the sky, the black blanket of night hovered over. The moon was full and high in the sky; he took a breath in of the night air. He looked down at Tayuya; she was falling asleep on his chest. He couldn't help but think about a myth about two under a full moon. He caught himself slowing down. He shook his head and began to return to speed.

Suddenly a kunai was flung at him from somewhere in the forest. Naruto jumped back to avoid it and Tayuya woke with a snort. Naruto whispered an apology to her. A familiar voice rang through the forest, "To think, it has come down to me." Naruto set down Tayuya out of the way, before talking, "Why hello sensei, how have you been since I last saw you?" Naruto said to mock the situation as if it was casual. Kakashi stepped out of the foliage, a kunai readied in his hand. "Don't give me any s**t demon." Kakashi said getting in a stance. "Such language, do the other two know you talk like that?" Naruto shot back, not doing anything despite the situation. Kakashi rushed Naruto, bringing a kunai up to Naruto's neck. "Don't give me s**t, I know you took over. I have no sympathy for a demon." Naruto spun around, reversing their positions, with his own kunai on Kakashi's neck. "That is where you are wrong sensei. I took the demon, and its power." Naruto told Kakashi. Kakashi scoffed, "You take me for a fool demon. Naruto never could have maneuvered around me." Naruto smirked, "You're the one who has taken me for a fool, for too long."

"I'm gonna confess to you sensei. Yesterday I broke the Fourth's seal." Naruto began. Kakashi stiffened in surprise. "The Kyuubi came out of its imprisonment but then a fail-safe activated, injuring the demon. But I digress, later that day, I was challenged by Rock Lee and was pulled into my mind by what I thought was the Kyuubi. In fact, it was a manifestation of my ability to hold my memories and knowledge, which had been caged up because of the sealing. When I combined with it every lesson and every event since my birth was given back to me. I could do so much, I just couldn't hold on to it.

"And, as I look back, my leaving is inevitable. I was like a piece of s**t to the village." During his speech, Naruto had broken his hold on Kakashi. Kakashi looked deep into Naruto's eyes. Deep down he knew that the boy spoke the truth. "Naruto you don't get it, the village needs you there. Each village has its own jinchuriki, if you leave, it leaves us in a unbalanced power." Kakashi spoke trying to reason with Naruto. What he didn't realize is that his words burned Naruto deep inside. The villagers could have treated him with respect, for the good of their village. But they chose to treat him like a virus, a plague.

Naruto let out charka uncontrollably, the ring of crimson around his eyes over taking the blue and the slits becoming thinner. Kakashi took a step back, shocked how Naruto took the words. Naruto spoke, his voice ripping into Kakashi's ears, "When the village is attacked," Naruto paused, breathing in as he did, "I will be there, holding up both of my middle fingers, and watching the village f*****g fall to its knees."

As soon as those words came out of his mouth, Naruto grabbed Tayuya and was off, passing up his teacher and never looked back. Kakashi stood there, shell shocked from Naruto's words.

* * *

The next day

Tsunade looked at the crowd she called to her office, eyeing down each one. She had called Naruto's friends in. Before her stood Shikamaru, Choji, Lee, Neji, Kiba, Sakura, Hinata, and Ino. Ten-Ten wasn't called for the reason of that see wasn't known well by Naruto, and Sasuke wasn't for obvious reasons.

She opened her mouth and spoke sadly and softly, "As of yesterday, Uzumaki Naruto left the village, with information provided by Hatake Kakashi he was… sick of his treatment in the village. You are to leave it at that. Naruto has now become labeled as a nukenin, although we have other plans than we have for normal nukenin. Because of information I cannot provide you, I have been able to persuade the counsel to drop the man hunt, and instead have gotten a retrieval team. You have been summoned because of your connections with him. Each of you, in some way, are on friendly terms with Naruto. Because of that you might be able to bring Naruto back. Those are your orders; I will repeat them for those who didn't catch it. You are to track down Naruto, and bring him back. Questions?"

Kiba raised his hand, "Why do we have anbu with us?" he pointed to the robed two in the back of the room, "They don't have anything to do with Naruto." The rest gave him a look. Sakura stepped forward, "I'll answer that Hokage-sama." She looked at Kiba, "Because we are still genin… and one chuunin. If we encounter anybody else we would be defenseless."

Kiba looked down and muttered something close to 'b***h' under his breath. As Kiba did so, Lee raised his hand, "I heard that Naruto was seen with a young woman of the sound. I bet it was her that caused Naruto to leave!" Tsunade heaved a sigh, "That wasn't a question Lee." As if he didn't hear, Lee continued on, "She is a temptress of unyouthfulness and caused Naruto to leave as he did." Lee continued but the others chose not to listen.

Sakura raised her hand, "Who was the girl?" Tsunade was about to speak when Jiraiya came from nowhere, surprising the whole crowd. "I will answer your question." Jiraiya paused for dramatic effect, "She is Naruto's lover." Everyone stood shocked, and Lee stopped talking. They all waited there for Jiraiya to proceed. "I have not seen for sure that they have consummated the relationship yet… but from interactions I see them engage in when there is no one around… they are either good friends or lovers. But my books aren't made on good friends." Jiraiya turned around, as he did he spoke, "Or can they be?" He disappeared after the words left his mouth.

Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose, she was wondering why Jiraiya didn't stop Naruto if he knew that much. She looked at the newly formed team in front of her and spoke, "You all received your mission. Now leave."

All at once they all left the room.

* * *

Outside of the office the others gathered to talk about the mission. "Wow, two attempts and it hasn't even been half a week." Kiba commented. The others in the room gave him a look that clearly said 'shut up'. He caught it but didn't heed, "What? Hey we brought back the first one if you recall. In fact, it is amazing that Naruto was able to get away as he did, wasn't almost the whole village after him?"

The others were ready to punish him when he didn't stop but as he finished most were thinking the same. "Wait, the villagers were out because of some demon, or something. You know because a flash of light that came from the uninhabited part of the village left because of the war?" Ino chimed in.

"Naruto lives around there." Sakura said. The others gave her looks, which she got irritated at. "No, I was there to talk about Sasuke, before he tried to leave. It was hard to find his house. It was out there, like he was quarantined."

"Was that why he left, 'cause his house was so far out? I would give a limb to be that far from people. Naruto was just being a pussy." Kiba said.

The whole time Shikamaru was thinking, then something came to him, "Demon, wasn't Naruto called that by a few of the adults?" Choji nodded, and between chips said, "Yeah, but it was more like most of the village." "And I could swear that the parents didn't allow their kids to play with him." Ino got in. "He- he played all by himself." Hinata stuttered.

"Turns out Naruto is not the happy-go-lucky kid we thought." Neji finally allowed himself to say.

* * *

The two anbu from the meeting came to the roof of the hokage's building. Both had plain masks, showing they were of low rank. While both wore the same armor, their individual masks were definitive. One had a fire-like pattern on the top left side of his mask. The other had stripes hugging the right edges of his. Each had a Konoha symbol on the top of the head, and eye slits.

The striped one spoke, "I can't believe we are bringing back the demon brat." The other spoke, "According to reports, he is no longer its container, he absorbed it." The other would have spat if not for the mask covering his face, "Even worse, he could have taken on traits of the demon. And you don't condemn him for the attacks? He crippled brothers, fellow ninja, without remorse. One word brother, redemption." The other backed away from the striped masked one, "How could you speak like that, you heard our orders, even the counsel agreed with the argument. He is vital, not only for protection, but as… the other reason." Stripes rushed Fire, grabbing his collar and pulling him close as he did, "Konoha can survive. We are the largest village, the most powerful village. Plus, we are already allied with a village that contains a jinchuriki, which can take both burdens. We don't need Kyuubi." Fire took in all Stripes had to say before replying, "What is the plan?"

* * *

Naruto got up from the bed he was sleeping in. After making sure he was not being tailed he chose to pick a village to rest. It was out of the way but still close enough to where he was able to reach it, find a hotel, and have a good night rest.

He looked at Tayuya, who had been awake for a while, having slept along the way. He stretched and greeted her, and she greeted him back. Then she asked him, "What are we going to do now?" Naruto stretched once more before responding, "Well I have a… wish to fulfill. But that can wait, besides it would be complicated to do it now. But what do you think about going back to Oto-"

"Why would you want me to leave?" Tayuya cut him off, desperation in her voice. Naruto shook his head, "No I mean invasion." Tayuya, although sighing in relief inside, shook her head this time, "With just you and me? That is probably the craziest f*****g thing I heard you say."

"You cut off the head and the body will fall." Naruto said cryptically. Tayuya caught it in an instant, "W-we won't be able to do that, besides only famous nukenin are allowed in Oto." She stuttered out.

"Then we simply need to become famous." Naruto said.

Chapter End

* * *

And that is chapter eight.

[1] Naruto no Kyūbi - it is how a site told me to spell it for normal kitsune with nine tails. If I am wrong, give proof before saying so. The demon will still be referred as the Kyuubi still but keep in mind that is how I am spelling Naruto's title.

Again thanks for the feed back and remember to review the story. It helps me get started faster. So anyway, Later.


	9. First Kill

Lumenatrum is back, bringing Ch 9 of Spiral Tailed.

There is a small warning for some here. Those who don't like author-made characters, it is a necessary evil here. Don't worry though, he is nothing to worry about and has a small role. So now we go to the disclaimer.

Disclaimer: For those who still don't get it, I do not own the Naruto series in anyway, shape, or form to speak of. I am not claiming the series, nor will I ever. So get it though your heads.

Look down and there it is, the story.

* * *

First Kill

His eyes held tight against each other. Not wanting to disturb his peaceful and wanted sleep. But, Naruto was aware of his surroundings, meaning he was awake. His eyes refused his commands, rebelling and staying in their shut status. He woke only moments ago, except for his eyes. He had pulled his arms up into the air to stretch, and pulled them back to his sides. He was feeling the bed he lied on, his arms gliding along its surface as they left his sides to do another stretch. He had rented another room, the third one since his defection.

In his stretch, his left arm collided with some thing. He was immediately aware of his surroundings, his eyes finally reacting to his commands. He sat up, and looked at the object to his side. His eyes were still blurry and couldn't make out the thing. All he could see was a blurry red. He rubbed his eyes vigorously; rubbing the moisture from is eyes off. Vision renewed, he looked at what ever was at his side. He could have slapped himself when he seen Tayuya there. She was lying at his side on the bed, a result of the inn's lack of room.

They had to get a couple's suite, because of a merchant festival in the village they stopped in. The other guests were all merchants selling their wares in the village. Tayuya was the one who put up the argument to not stay at the inn. Naruto was sick of the ground, and knew Tayuya could do with a good bed rest. In the end of all the arguing, they shared the bed; even though Naruto suggested for him to sleep on the floor.

Naruto removed himself from the bed, going over to the restroom of the suite they rented. It had been a month since they made their escape from Konoha. They were wondering aimlessly until a few days ago. They were wondering the streets of some village they didn't care enough of to remember the name of. He and Tayuya were looking for a place to eat when he heard two men conversing in a stand. Naruto stopped, and suggested they eat there. The stand wasn't anything amazing, or out classing any other stand they had been to since the departure, Naruto only wanted the information. He sat two stools away from them, to not let it be known that he was listening. He didn't care for their faces, or their looks, all he cared for was their words.

A mister Toritarō was looking for some nukenin for a low level hit. There was no money involved though, or any reward at all, so the men didn't take the hit. But from what he heard, the man had connections. To Naruto that was reward enough. To become a famous rouge you start at the lowest of the low. He listened for the location, finding it to be in a village in a border country in between Wind and Fire.

Naruto chuckled as he came from his morning business. It was a step closer to what he wanted. He looked toward his partner, as she woke up from her sleep. Her hair was frizzy, and her eyes unfocused as she sat up. She yawned and sat in a daze for a while, looking forward at the wall, as if it would do something entertaining.

"Good morning." Naruto announced to her. Her eyes shifted to him, although in very much the same state as they were with the wall. He waved to get a reaction, which provided nothing. He repeated his greeting, a smile playing on his lips. She yawned and mumbled some unheard words as she made her way to the bathroom.

Naruto shrugged and moved to the bed they slept on, his pack at the foot of it. He kneeled down and pulled out a net shirt to replace his pajama shirt, from the pack. Tayuya ridiculed him for having the pajamas but Naruto paid no mind to it. He even held his tongue when she had to use them to sleep. Naruto checked the pocket that carried the money; it was still considerably full when the price of the room was put into mind. He checked his weapon pouch; he had one kunai and several shuriken, not enough for any battle. He was going to have to buy new weapons soon.

He tweaked his head to the bathroom, Tayuya had just stepped out. After her little visit to the said room she seemed to be much more focused. Naruto stood up, putting the pack on as he did. "F**k, we're leaving already?" Tayuya questioned. Naruto nodded, a small apologetic smile on his lips. They had been moving without stop since they left. Naruto wanted to evade whatever assassins were after them. He walked up to her, giving a small sorry before picking her up. Her legs were still broken, and Naruto had no medical jutsu to his name. He jumped out a window in the room.

The sun rose in the horizon.

* * *

The ten-man team pulled together for the capture of Naruto was moving toward their target. They had zoned in to the blonde a week ago, Kiba catching a faint scent of Naruto in a village square. Kiba follow the scent and had caught a glimpse of Naruto leaving a store with a redhead. Kiba was going to follow but orders dictated to contact the rest of the team. The team had split up to cover more ground in the village. By the time he did Naruto's scent was out of the village, and had been out for hours.

They followed the scent, it leading them for a good while. Until Naruto's scent had gotten stronger. It passed over a village a strong scent lasting there in it, but then it continued out the town, into a forest.

"I'll go on ahead and try to slow the target down." the stripe masked anbu told the others. The genin and Shikamaru were put off by Stripes never talking about Naruto by name. He always used 'target' or something to the like. Shikamaru questioned this more than the others. Fire seen this and tried to reassure Shikamaru, "He always talks about the mission by topic, never client. If the mission was an escort , he would call the client, 'escort' rather than their name. It puts one off but it is how he is" Shikamaru wasn't convinced by the end of the and voiced his reason, "Tsunade told me you and him have not shared many missions. Only two if I am right, not a long time to know what a person 'always' does." Fire didn't think of that. Shikamaru could see that through body language. Had the anbu been higher ranking he would have gotten away with it. The others were held into the conversation from the start, and didn't question it when Shikamaru told them to run.

* * *

Naruto was going at a walking pace, because of suggestion by Tayuya. He was fully enjoying the scenery with her, taking in how foreign the trees were getting. The trees were getting thinner and less leafy as they passed in miles.

The position of the sun made it apparent that it was midday; considerable time had passed, since they had left at dawn. Naruto had let Tayuya down since it was only a walking pace. She still kept close to him, for balance they both reasoned in their respective minds.

They came to an ending of the forest, the grass got noticeably thinner as they stepped into it. Naruto took in the air, dry. The border country shared a miniscule part of the desert with Wind on its western side. The dry air was shared through out the country though. The village was about a days walk from here, half a day if they ran, but Tayuya wanted to slow down a bit.

Naruto heard the whizzing of shuriken behind them. He immediately dashed toward Tayuya and scooped her up in his arms. Naruto faced the point the shuriken originated from only to find an anbu. The anbu was adorned in armor typical of a normal anbu. But its mask showed its low rank. The mask was plain white, except for eye silts, the Konoha symbol, and a stripe like pattern along the edge of its face. Before words could be exchanged, the rest of the team blasted out of the forest, minus Fire. "Naruto! There you are!" several called in variations of the phrase. Naruto didn't reply to their calls, he was focused on the anbu who had attacked him not a moment ago.

"So, what are you here for?" He received no answer. "Let me guess, your mission is to get rid of me, huh." The late arrivals were questioning what Naruto meant by his words. Stripes made a gesture with his hand, and Fire sprung from woods, his hands shifting swiftly into hand signs. "**Doton: Ori ****shikakejirai**"[1] Fire shouted. At once, an earthen cage rose from the ground, trapping the team. Fire stood there holding his hands in place. "I won't be able to cover you-" Fire began before he was cut off by Stripes, "I know, I don't needed it." Stripes picked up his left hand moving to his right forearm; a seal was shown to be on it. "I have been making a name for myself. I carry a unique weapon. My father, who died a nameless death on that day thirteen years ago, crafted it. You know wha-" Stripes was cut off by Naruto holding his hand forward, his palm facing Stripes. Naruto began to speak, "I know the day that the Kyuubi was sealed into me." Naruto continued after he heard a few gasps, "You don't have to make it so damn dramatic."

"Fine then let me introduce myself by my more famous name." The anbu dispelled the seal, a claw like blade weapon adorning his arm and hand. Blades began after his fingers and protruded half a foot off of them. And apparatus connected to blades to the wrist by a ring around the aforementioned body part. Rings also connected the fingers to the apparatus, located in-between each finger's joints. The anbu moved his clawed hand to his other arm, another claw popped into existence after that arm's seal was dispelled.

"They address me by the name of my weapon." Stripes went into pose as he spoke, his voice hissing. The anbu charged at Naruto, picking up his claw as he did, "I am Tsume Akuma![2]" the anbu's voice screeched as he pulled the claw down. Naruto jumped backward, turning himself slightly to get Tayuya out of the way. He summoned a clone to take her. The clone rushed off to the side, Stripes following. Before the anbu could try to get at Tayuya and the clone, Naruto rushed him, getting a jump kick on the elite. Stripes recoiled from the blow, a bit shaken the boy was so up front. He pulled back his right hand and put his index and middle fingers together, their blades coming together to make a fierce point. He stabbed it toward Naruto, screeching a battle cry as he did. Naruto dodged it, and the anbu stabbed with his other hand, which he had readied as he did the first stab. Naruto remarked that the man wasn't very fast, and a little eccentric in his own right. The man seemed to be held up on making the fight seem dramatic, as if he was trying to impress. Or he wasn't taking this seriously. Naruto took that as an insult and was going to make him regret that.

As Naruto dodged the flurry of stabs the one had become, he pulled his one kunai out of his pouch. As he dodged another stab, he retaliated with a kunai thrust. The anbu was to preoccupied with his showboating to see the thrust, until it was too late of course. The kunai dug into Stripes, hitting just below his heart. Naruto swiped his hand to the side, slicing the anbu across his lower chest. Naruto missed his chance at a fatal wound, and what would be his first kill, but that could be fixed. The anbu was surprised to say the least. The anbu heard that the boy would not be able to do anything without help from the Kyuubi, but here the boy was, first hit and almost killing him, and not a sign of the aforementioned beast's chakra.

Naruto went with his side slice, turning full circle, and plunging his kunai into the anbu's chest. The kunai went deep, plunging into Stripes heart and protruding out the other side of the organ. Before Stripes could feel the cold grip of death Naruto's voice rang out, "You showed me disrespect by not taking me, Naruto no Kyūbi, seriously. And you now have paid the price." Stripes groaned, "Fox bastard." he said it slowly as his eyes closed beneath his mask. Stripes fell back, landing with a thud.

The crowd that was forced to watch because they were trapped, and Fire were in a frightened awe as they watched Naruto defeat an anbu, and come out without a scratch. Granted the anbu was low ranked, but an anbu is an elite, how did Naruto, dead last, defeat one?

Naruto caught those looks, and answered, "He disrespected me by not coming at me serious. Maybe, it would have been longer if he took the fight more serious." Their looks didn't die off, so Naruto turned around, not wanting to be watched like that. He focused on the now corpse of the fallen anbu, and smirked. He looked down on the claws; they looked good, hard to deal with but good. A little training and he would have himself a good weapon. "Spoils of war." Naruto said loud enough for all present to hear. He picked up the weapons, after having small trouble removing them. He laughed through a closed smile as he attached them to his arms.

"What was that name?" Naruto pondered until he got it. He got into the stance Stripes was in and mocked, "I am Tsume Akuma!" Naruto laughed as he finished. He looked around and seen the looks he was getting. Each and every person was looking Naruto up and down, to see if he was the same exact person they knew. They were confused by his actions; he took a life, and then mocked the man childishly afterwards. Naruto brushed off the looks and, with difficulty, got the claws into his pack. He looked back at the anbu, his eyes concentrated on the mask. He took off the mask, not bothering to get a look at the man's face. He put on the mask and looked at Tayuya, "Souvenir." he told her. She put her hand to her face, shaking her head as she did.

"Aw, come on, this will be a testament of my first kill. And think about it, having a Konoha elite's mask will help. You know with clients." Naruto told her, trying to get her to understand. She seemed to lighten when he said those words. He walked over to her and the clone, dispelling the clone after he picked up Tayuya.

Naruto was about to launch off toward his destination, when he was called from behind. He turned only slightly, to make it known he was listening. The one who called him, Shikamaru, began, "Naruto, wh- why are you- what-" Shikamaru was at a loss for words, he couldn't begin to think of a question to ask why Naruto would leave or how to bring him back. Naruto stared at his trapped ex-comrades for a while, before smirking, "I will tell everything, in due time." he paused for a moment and turned full circle, facing them. "Maybe when we meet next, I will be in a more… respectful position." Naruto barred his teeth in the smirk, emulating his now gone resident. Naruto turned to leave, but before he did, he said, "After all, respect is all I wanted." With that Naruto picked up his feet and was out of sight within minutes.

As he left a kunai whizzed from his retreating form. The kunai headed directly to the anbu who was holding the others captive. Fire dodged the oncoming attack, having to release the jutsu as he did. Before he could do anything to trap them again, Shikamaru caught fire, in his specialty jutsu. Shikamaru nodded toward Neji and released the jutsu. Neji rushed Fire using his clan's Taijutsu on the anbu. As Neji ended with the sixty-fourth strike, he made sure to hit in such a way that he incapacitated the man. Fire fell to his knees, and fell to his stomach afterwards. The eight looked down on the man, deciding what to do. Sakura turned to Shikamaru, since he was the higher ranked of the eight, and asked what they were going to do next. Shikamaru closed his eyes for a second, showing how deep in thought he was. In the end he sighed, and turned toward the rest, "We are to go back to Konoha." He stated it plainly, although a little distain was behind his voice. " What? Why?" Sakura questioned.

The Nara looked down, "To report treason, on these two. And we can't go after Naruto, since we are without any escorts. Choji, Get the one who is not dead, I will get the one who is." Shikamaru and Choji picked up their burden respectfully and the entire team walked away from the direction their friend was heading. "I can believe Naruto beat an anbu." Choji voiced everyone's thoughts.

* * *

Naruto had slowed down again, after he made sure they were not being followed. They walked for a good while, in silence. Although Naruto seemed unaffected to his comrades appearing to get him back but Tayuya was. "Your friends seemed to want you back." She said, pulling off a nonchalant voice. Naruto immediately picked up on what she was going to say, "The opinion of the populace out weighs, the opinion of a few." He paused, "Besides, they weren't really my friends, we never really hung out." He turned his head to her, "And if I went back what would you do? I won't let you rot in jail. And that would just be treason, now wouldn't it." He gave her a big smile. She looked away, a small smile of her own playing on her lips.

They went on to receive their first mission as nukenin for both of them.

Chapter End

* * *

Ok the chapter really isn't over. I had an idea that was to be put in, but it was to early for the time line I had, and a bit silly. So I am adding it as an omake. But I am calling it an extra scene, since it won't be as funny as most omakes.

* * *

Extra scene

After searching for only a week, they had centered in on their target. Considering the amount of time this usually took this was a cake walk. The boy was not discrete, not at all. He left so much behind him it was almost comical. And his choice of wear, of course it led them to him.

"Itachi-san, why are we tracking the fox container again? Didn't Pein-sama say that we were to wait three years before doing anything?" Kisame asked his counterpart. Itachi didn't look at the shark man, but still answered, "His defection has led us to do this. We are to capture the fox early, to make sure he doesn't get himself killed." Kisame laughed, "Yeah, ones like that boy will only die within weeks of leaving." After that was said the two remained silent.

Within minutes they found him, Uzumaki Naruto. They cornered him to the east of Fire, near its border with the sea. They were surprised to find the boy with a girl. "Well, it looks like someone has gotten lucky, isn't that right Itachi-san." Kisame said as he laid eyes on the redhead, who was standing next to the blonde. "This is no time for blather with the target Kisame." Itachi said in a monotone voice. As the words left his mouth he rushed Naruto. Itachi being too quick for Naruto, the blonde didn't have time to react to the punch to the gut.

_Poof_

The blonde that stood in front of them was now only a puff of smoke. The other two looked at Tayuya. "Oh I'm such an idiot." She said in Naruto's voice. She brought her hands up for the release seal, she then also poofed out of existence.

The two Akatsuki stood in awe as the girl did that. They took a look at each other, neither of them had an idea of what happened in front of them.

* * *

Naruto and Tayuya were leaving a village, when Naruto stopped all of a sudden. "What?" Tayuya asked the stopped blonde. Naruto brought his hand to his face, a loud smaking sound rang afterwards. "What?!" Tayuya repeated more forcefully. "I forgot to release kage bunshin." He admitted. Tayuya raised an eyebrow, "You forgot to release the jutsu?" obvious annoyance in her voice. "It wasn't my fault. It is hard to concentrate on what you did when you do an act of treason." Naruto said, bringing his hands up for the seal and releasing the jutsu.

A thick haze poured over parts of fire country. It was appearent to all ninja and many villages that day.

Naruto looked up, as if learning more. "What?" Tayuya said again. Naruto looked down, "I was conned into giving away my money, several times." But he then picked up his head, "But it shows them, that money probably disappeared now." Both he and Tayuya laughed as the walked from the village.

* * *

Now there is the end of the chapter, fully. No more scenes to give or anything. I just couldn't fit that into this chapter, timeline wise.

[1] **Doton: Ori shikakejirai-** Earth release: Cage booby trap

[2] Tusme Akuma- Clawed devil (Remember these are loose translations)

With that I leave you guys. Review the story. Later.


	10. Bird

Lumenatrum back with Ch 10 of Spiral Tailed.

First off, I want to apologize. Most of this delay was out of my hands. Homework and distractions were keeping me from doing this. Also, my home computer has this program that I don't like to work with. I have to work with my grandmother's computer to fully feel that the work is good. I will try not to let it get so delayed.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto series. This is chapter ten, you should know that by now.

Story, that is where we are going.

* * *

Bird

Naruto yawned as he and Tayuya walked a beaten path that winded through a vast field. Information they got from the last village they passed through, had told them to follow a path that was usually used for business between two political centers in the border country they had entered. When they first entered, they didn't expect the country to be so sporadically settled. The first town they went through was half a week trek from the border. When they got their directions, the destination was considered to take five days to get to.

All of that considered, Tayuya was a little uneasy as to if the mission was still up for grabs. When they first heard and went to accept the mission, it took them almost a week to get to the border from where they were. Then four to the next town, and three to the one they received info from. Now the three days they used while on foot, and considering how long it might have took the ones Naruto eavesdropped to get to that town, it was not likely the job was able to be taken anymore.

But Naruto still had hopes, if not was sure, that the job was still open. To that, Tayuya sighed, the boy's attitude familiar by that time. The boy was kind of an open book, or a fifty-foot sign, to her. Although in reality they hardly shared anything, if they shared at all. In a way they only knew basics about each other. Tayuya knew more, only because every event since their meeting gave on a lot about the blonde.

"What are you thinking about?" Tayuya heard from her side. She was about to answer "us" but decided against it in the face of the chaos that response could only lead to. "Everything." Was what she came up with. It was vague, yet to the point, and good enough, since Naruto didn't prod. But instead, he spoke back, "I know, just one thing after another. But things should settle down." He grinned, "Since, you know, we aren't being tailed anymore." Tayuya nodded back, and they settled back to walking in silence.

Some time later, the sun started to set. Tayuya yawned heavily. "Sleepy?" Naruto asked with a grin. "Of course." was the response. They had skipped rest the night before to save time. After receiving Tayuya's answer, Naruto decided for them to stop. Naruto unloaded his pack, and emptied the contents form it. Naruto was unhappy to find that Tsume Akuma had torn up another one of his shirts. He glared at the claws, which so gingerly lay on the ground. That had been the fifth shirt, leaving him only seven more. It seemed as though the claws liked to destroy his pajama shirts only, which Naruto grumbled at and Tayuya laughed calling it 'divine justice' to his wardrobe. He had one pajama shirt left.

"Dammit." Naruto moaned out. "Why don't you just seal them?" Tayuya suggested. Naruto looked at her and began to scratch the back of his head. That was all the answer she needed. "You don't know how to seal?" she asked with sight disbelief. Naruto shook his head. "Do you have any sealing scrolls?" Tayuya asked, trying to help his since she knew. Naruto answered with a question, "Why would someone who doesn't know how to seal, keep sealing scrolls?" Tayuya was a little pissed from Naruto's response, "Sorry, just trying to f*****g help."

"Do you know how to seal things into a person's arm?" Naruto asked. Tayuya shook her head, "No, we weren't taught that. Besides tattoos aren't my thing." Naruto nodded, "Yeah, no need in desecrating your skin." Both their minds went off on how that could be interpreted, and both of them interpreted it as him complementing her skin. Their faces grew red, and Naruto suggested getting camp ready.

A fire crackled in the middle of the camp Naruto had setup off the path. They sat on mats that they were going to sleep on. The mats were cradled near the warmth of the fire, but not too close as for the mats to catch on fire. Their eyes were locked on the fire that danced to the front of them. The weather in the country was like that of a desert. Not surprising, since to the east was a desert that the country shared with Wind. The day was hot and dry, while the night was close to freezing. Not as bad as the desert, but it was getting close.

Tayuya sat at the end of her mat, closer to the fire, hugging her knees. Naruto had his coat so he wasn't as affected by the climate. He had suggested for her to wear one of his spares but she refused. He didn't know why she was so averse to wearing his coat, since she was already wearing some pants and a shirt of his. She said it was because it was the color, and it being a noticeable target. It was crap, since they were not in a mission yet.

He dropped it because he hated being ridiculed on his clothes. He hadn't had a stealth mission in his life, so what was the big deal if he wore it. He liked the color, and wasn't just going to drop in because of everyone else's opinion. When he got his stealth and assassination missions, then, he would put it away until he came back from the mission. He was a genin, he could wear his casual's during a mission.

Naruto sighed and laid back. His mat parted when he did. It was yet another thing the claws had cut. He wished for a way to know things that he didn't.

He sat back up and brought his palm to his face. He remembered the library he had seen in his mind back when the Kyuubi first was absorbed into him.

He asked Tayuya to keep an open eye, in case of any thing. He closed his eyes, and pulled himself into his mindscape.

* * *

Naruto found himself sitting in one of the chairs that surrounded the table in the center chamber. He looked around finding every thing. He walked south to find the alcove of doors. He remembered that straight-ahead lead to the room that locked the Kyuubi's chakra inside. The left, iron, door he remembered had an odd foreboding feeling to it. And finally to the right was the library.

Naruto slid open the door and scanned the entire room. The shelves were filled to overflow with works; any of them could hold some kind of jutsu. He walked down the room, looking over all the scrolls and books the room held. He spied out some of titles of the work, finding out that none of them were shelved in any particular order. He walked all the way to the end, and fell over a table he forgot was there. The table and himself flipped over and found themselves on the ground. He groaned as he got up. Two works caught his eye; a scroll that read spirit jutsu and a tome of some kind with a title that read _Rise and Fall of the Only King of Kitsune_. He flipped through the book, finding out it was about the life of the Kyuubi. He was going to read it, but the scroll was about jutsu.

Naruto pulled it open, finding that he already read the first jutsu on the list. _Kisune-bi No Jutsu_[1], Naruto wondered if he could do it now that he absorbed the Kyuubi. He went through the appropriate hand signs and focused on the wall to the front of him. He opened his mouth and a small fireball shot out. Naruto felt as though it was more than slightly like Sasuke's, but that bastard could die now for all he cared.

Naruto then remembered that the jutsu could also shoot the fire out of his limbs. Naruto formed the seals and pointed his finger forward, causing the fire to blast from the tip of the finger. He did it again, this time his endeavors earning his lightning to blast from his finger. Naruto smiled at the stream of electricity as it shot from his palm.

He performed the jutsu many more times and by the time he stopped the wall was broken and charred.

Naruto read through more, performing different jutsu as he read them. It was a while before he remembered the task at hand. He was about to put down the scroll when some thing caught his eye. Kengen no jutsu[2]. He read the purpose:

_For the manifestation of objects into either world, mental or material world. Used along with a protective jutsu it can enable secret meeting places in the mental realm. It can also allow items particular to ones mind to be allowed into tangibility. But remember if the object is destroyed in its original realm it will cease to exist in the other realm._

Naruto made note of this jutsu and made sure to memorize it. As soon as he was definite that the jutsu was memorized he went to look for sealing jutsu. Naruto went down each shelf and spied at the titles of each work. He found most of the works were history, and that they went extensively onto some subjects. Some had specialty works like formal ethics on a variety of species, and how to make certain medicine. Then he found what was likely the work he was looking for, Ninja Jutsu.

He took the scroll from its place and pulled it open. The scroll was considerably big and soon Naruto found himself struggling to keep the paper in order. Trying to not do any damage as he did, Naruto made his way to the table in the back, at least there he could make sure that the bulk was a little stationary.

He laid the scroll on the table as soon as he got there and stated to check the scroll out. Within a minute Naruto found what he was looking for. It was an arm sealing jutsu, similar to that of Stripe's arm seals. The jutsu was also simple enough for him to take out and put back the claws any time he wanted. Right next to it was a scroll sealing jutsu. Naruto smiled at his luck. It was then that Naruto spied the **Hone Saisei No Jutsu**. Naruto was going to make note of it when repercussions dawned on him. If he healed her fully, she would have the ability to leave. She would not have a reason to stay with him. He would be by himself again.

He closed the scroll, asking to be selfish a little longer.

With his goal reached he left the mindscape.

* * *

Tayuya sat there in front of the fire, still clutching her knees. She shivered, the temperature getting to her. See turned her eyes onto Naruto, she wondered as to what he was doing. It looked like he was meditating to her. He didn't seem to be the one to stay still like that. She yawned loudly, and cursed him for asking her to stay awake and keep watch. The wind picked up and she hugged her legs more.

Then an idea dawned onto her. Leaning on some one for body heat warms a body, and the benefits were given to two people. So, then Naruto should not mind her just rubbing up against him.

She shuffled up to Naruto, taking in the immediate warmth the boy seemed to let off. She didn't know why but it felt awkward to do this. Her mind was contemplating the ways Naruto could perceive her action. He could twist it into cuddling, and ridicule her for it. Or he could call it cuddling and take part in it as such. But, all her worries melted, as the cold did, from her. She got comfortable and started to close her eyes. But she didn't want to get caught in a position where she could not defend herself, so she stood awake. She sighed and looked up into the sky. She admired all the stars that twinkled down upon them. She seen the moon high in the sky, full and in all its glory.

Moments passed and she thought that maybe that Naruto fell asleep. Then the thought that maybe he was screwing with her came to mind. She looked straight into his face, trying to find fraud in his face. She found nothing, until his eyes opened suddenly. She jumped back quickly, hurting herself as she did. She groaned as Naruto became aware of his surroundings. "Are you okay?" He asked shuffling up to her. She nodded slightly and got into a sitting position. Naruto looked at her, concerned, for a while before he met her eyes and looked away.

Tayuya noticed this, but to steer away from what would undoubtedly be an awkward conversation, she didn't ask why he did that. Instead she said, "What the hell were you doing that involved you sitting there like a statue?" Naruto didn't say anything, but decided on demonstrating. He walked over to the claws that he named the devil in his eyes. He bit his thumb on his left hand, and drew the blood from the new wound. He used the blood to draw onto his arm and make the special seals for the sealing. With the blood hardening on his arm, and the seal completed Naruto gabbed one of the claws in a way to not cut himself and channeled chakra into them. He put the claws up to the seal and in a poof of smoke and a pop, the claws were gone and the seal glowed for seconds before settling into a black color. Tayuya watched in awe as he repeated the process for his other arm.

Soon he was finished and looked at Tayuya with triumph and the want of praise. She yelled at him, "What the f**k! Not even an hour ago you said that you could not seal _anything! _And now you have done some limb sealing s**t!" Naruto cowered as Tayuya went off on him. He tried to explain but each time a word came out of his mouth she yelled louder. Naruto waited until she stopped to take a breath and, very quickly, explained himself, "I am sorry but there is this place in my mind where I can read all of the Kyuubi's knowledge and him being a immortal means his knows a lot and ninja jutsu is included." By the time Naruto finished he had to wheeze out his breaths. It took Tayuya a while to register all of Naruto's words but in the end all she needed to do was look for deceit. She looked directly into Naruto's eyes, much to his discomfort. She searched for anything that prove he was or was not lying.

She nodded when she accepted the explanation. Then a thought passed though her head. "Did you find that jutsu? You know the one for my legs?" Her eyes glistened with hope, something Naruto regretted since he took a peak towards them. "No." he said, admittedly a little to fast and high pitched, fortunately, for him, she didn't catch it. But a frown did play on her face, to Naruto's displeasure. "Fine," she started downtrodden, "Let's just go to sleep." With that she walked to her mat and laid on it. Naruto's face held a frown for a while, but when he heard her say go to sleep, he fell to the mat without question.

* * *

"You refused the mission earlier, because you did, it was unsuccessful. Not only that we have found two anbu to be traitors to Konoha, and lost one in the process. Now normally rooting out a traitor is a happy event, but not when it costs us a mission, and a _vital_ chance to retrieve a… misguided soul. I will be lenient and ask what you think should be done as punishment."

"Nothing." Kakashi answered. Tsunade tensed up at Kakashi's word. She looked up at the jonin, after doing so well not to look up at him to try to show her disappointment. She needed anger now and a direct stare conveys just that. Kakashi didn't cower; he didn't even react. He stood there nonchalant; his book in hand, pretending that he was not worried in the slightest. But this was the Hokage for god's sake. A death glare form any hokage would have sent a shiver down his spine, especially when the one in front of him could kill him with her finger.

"Nothing Kakashi? You propose we do nothing for your punishment?" Tsunade's voice cracked as she said that, but remained intimidating all the same. Kakashi flipped a page of the book before saying, "Yeah." with his powerful vocabulary. "And," he went on, "we shouldn't do anything about Naruto either." The air around Tsunade changed, "What?" she said with a false saccharine smile upon her face. "Let me explain." Kakashi started. "If we go after him now it would not do anything. Naruto is like an ox when it comes to stubbornness, he won't change his mind no matter what. Not when all the village has to offer him is their glares. And he would reject us because, of the villagers display after the little light show." Kakashi finished and let it sink in.

"But, that does not mean I will give up. Naruto may be stubborn, but I am more stubborn. You are going on the next mission, against your will if it be, and will do nothing to sabotage it. If you do your rank and rights as a ninja will be revoked and you will be put in Konoha's prison, with traitors. Do you hear what I am saying Hatake? You would be in the same position your 'star' pupil is now." Tsunade took a breath, "You're dismissed."

Kakashi left out the door, not turning back to Tsunade.

* * *

"Finally we're here!" Naruto exclaimed as the two entered the town. He laughed delightedly to himself. Tayuya quieted him down. "So." She began, "Where are we going?" Naruto gave her a big smile, "I don't know." He said plainly. It would be an understatement to say Tayuya did a little twitch when he said that. "Let's ask around" Naruto said before Tayuya could yell at him.

Naruto walked up to a woman walking in the street. "Excuse me, do you know where I can find a Toritarō?" Naruto asked the woman. The lady seem to ponder this for a while before she answered, "The only one I can think of is the one that is trying to running for daimyo. He is usually in his small estate, almost directly west of here." Naruto bowed to the woman saying his thanks. He turned to Tayuya and nodded.

--_**Time-skip**_

Naruto looked up at the destination that they were lead to. It seemed that Toritarō was actually well to do. He lived inside of what seemed to be a small mansion on a good plot of land. The house seemed to loom over the rest of the village, except for some buildings that were more official. The mansion was enclosed by a large gate, which spanned around the land.

Tayuya was about to walk up to the gate and knock to come in when Naruto swooped her up in his arms and jumped over the gate. Before she could question Naruto said, "It would be good to make an impression on the client to sneak up on him." Tayuya blinked at his reasoning and said, "Or, I could alarm him and we get chased out by whatever guards or security he has in this place."

"Well, we are going to find that out now aren't we." Naruto said with a smirk. Tayuya twitched as Naruto jumped up to the highest room in the mansion, a lone figure in the room.

* * *

"Dammit, dammit, dammit!" a lone man squawked in his room that overlooked most of his village, or what would be his. He was pacing back and forth, grunting and groaning for what has been all day. A ritual that has become his usual for what was weeks now. "How could he take so long?" the man asked himself.

The man's name was Toritarō, a man that came form a well-to-do family. He grew up privileged, and even after his parents' death he held a strong mound of money around him, and his inheritance wasn't included.

He was a pale man, which was abnormal considering the blinding heat and sunshine the country got almost year 'round. His eyes were small and beady, and were brimmed with a want, of what, he only knew. He was relatively tall in size but had a portly look to him. His hair was jet black and thinning on top. The man seemed to like diagonal stripes to since his clothes were all in that pattern, including his shoes.

"Dammit, Gin, it is your one chance, you better not have screwed it up." The man snarled under his breath. "Who's Gin?" Toritarō heard from behind him. He turned to see a blonde male sitting in his chair and redheaded female sitting on the desk behind him.

Immediately he lightened up, an aura of happiness seeming to radiate off of him. Toritarō rubbed his hands together, and scuffled his feet up to the two. "Oh thank you for coming. So what do I have mercenaries or just some hired blade?" Naruto and Tayuya exchanged glances, and then Naruto dove into his pack, uncovering his headband. Toritarō's eyes lit up like fireworks, "I got a ninja, yes, yes, I definitely have fortune to thank." Toritarō said nodding. He ran up to Naruto, taking the headband out of the blonde's hand. He examined the symbol etched into the metal. There was a squeal like sound that resonated from Toritarō. "Not only a ninja, but a leaf at that." Toritarō made small little sounds that disturbed Naruto and Tayuya.

All the while they were watching him in his display, Naruto was only slightly disturbed, while Tayuya cringed at the man. And the man hadn't stopped; nay he went on scuffling around his room, making sounds that would be disturbing from any grown male. Although he was enjoying how Tayuya was reacting to the man, Naruto cleared his throat. Toritarō looked back at the two and immediately straightened up and walked up to the two, and all around looked a lot more dignified.

"Yes, so, I have assurance you know what I want you to do?" Toritarō said, his voice either playing itself deeper, or he had just gotten serious. Naruto got up from the chair, "Yeah, we know you need a hit. But, for what, we don't know." Toritarō nodded, "Yes I wanted to attract those who work for pennies, since they are usually the most silent. Those two did a good job." Naruto's right brow rose above his left. "So those two were hired?" he asked. Toritarō made a slight thinking gesture, "I suppose you could say that, but, enough about those two. Let's get down to business." Toritarō took his seat behind his desk and faced the two that stood before him.

"Now do you two need back ground, or can I go on without telling you anything?" Toritarō asked. Naruto thought for a second then answered, "Background sounds okay." Toritarō nodded, "First you need to know I am one who is an active participant in government. And, I have always wanted to hold an official office in this town. Unfortunately, my opponent for an office in this city is better liked among its people than me. The two of us are the only one who are running for that office, so, if he disappeared, so do my troubles. That is where you two come in, I need you to kill Nekomaru to get the platform of daimyo."

Again Naruto and Tayuya exchanged glances and finally Tayuya spoke up, "Isn't usually the cat that goes after the bird?" came her cheeky remark. Toritarō's expression did not change form at all, "Girl, word play is not wanted at the time. This is serious, I need this position, and it is in my blood. My father held the position and so did my grandfather. And I am not letting some damn election by the people change that. Ever since the shogun changed the process of choosing a successor, I have slowly felt the position slip from my grasp. I will be daimyo, if skinning a cat is needed, so be it."

"Now you're using word play." Tayuya pointed out. Toritarō crossed his arms, "If a metaphor is needed to avoid the word, I will use it." Tayuya raised an eyebrow, "What 'death'?" Toritarō squirmed at the word. "Don't say that word!" he said. "Death?" she asked again. Toritarō squirmed again. Tayuya started to laugh, "You're afraid of the word 'death'?" Again he squirmed. Tayuya laughed harder, "A man scared of a word! My sides are splitting!"

Whether she was kidding or really cracking up when she started rolling on the floor, Naruto didn't know, but he continued the conversation with his new client. "You want him… skinned in any particular fashion." He said careful not to refer to killing or death. Toritarō nodded, "Yes, yes, I would like you to do it silently. So it would be good if you do it at night, since he is less alert at night that he is in the day."

Naruto nodded, and picked up the still laughing Tayuya from the ground. "You're going a little too far with this." Naruto said to her. "B-b-but it's so funny!" She said back trying to regain her breath. Naruto sighed, and jumped out the window, finding that the sun was setting and his job wasn't too far off.

* * *

End of chapter 10. heh, it was as long as a normal chapter. Sorry, I wanted to have it as long as I can get it but the end of the month is dawning, and putting it off more when I could post it now didn't seem smart to me. Besides, I would probably procrastinate.

[1] Kitsune-bi no Jutsu- Kind of the art of fox fire. I am one who loves the myths and lore of another country so it try to put it in my works.

[2]Kengen no Jutsu- technique of manifestation. (As always the site is kind of bad so don't trust it too much.)

With that review, and later.


	11. Cat skin and emotions

Lumenatrum here. Now on to chapter 11.

I think you guys were mad at the last chapter. Sorry, I wasn't in the right head and didn't revise it.

Disclaimer: What is this... the eleventh time!? Really? Dammit just learn I don't own the Naruto. Please just learn this

* * *

Cat skin and emotions

Nekomaru's estate was almost exactly like Toritarō's estate. The only thing different, if you could count it, was that Nekomaru's had his estate's gate was open. Tayuya remarked it was "Ballsy" of him to do that, since it left him open to attack. The chances of being hit when one is into politics are high. If Naruto was of lesser intelligence, or if it was only a month and a few weeks ago, he would have walked straight through the gate. Better knowledge told him that anyone who leaves themselves open for attack has a trick up their sleeve or is plain everyday stupid. If it were the latter sneaking up on him would make the mission far easier. But, then again it wouldn't be most likely thing in the world.

Naruto dodged to the left, going around the gate in a half circle before jumping up the gate wall. He landed right on the wall and looked at the ground of Nekomaru's estate. The backgrounds were crawling with guards. Fortunately none of them seemed to take notice to Naruto on top of the gate's wall. Naruto gulped as he looked down at them. He counted forty at first, before he had seen a mobile unit of guards, around twenty more, making rounds from each side, using the backgrounds as a pathway between the two. Naruto jumped back down. Tayuya, who was being carried by Naruto, was set on the ground while Naruto sat and thought.

They were both terribly confused, and that was to say the least. They both sat for what was a moment before Tayuya stated in a higher pitch, "What the hell was that? This f***ker has not one guard in the front grounds, but over fifty in the back! What is with this guy?!" Naruto sat there still, looking up at the sky, as if the answer would descend upon them form the stars that were starting to appear. A few minutes passed before Naruto said, "Maybe, he anticipated that if he left his front gate open we would think that he had some trap set up in the front and then would go around his estate and jump the gate." Naruto's face showed uncertainty at his own words. Tayuya in turn crossed her arms and growled, "Great, Now some f***ker we don't even know is in our heads. Just f***kin' great." she enunciated each of her words in the last sentence.

"Maybe he didn't think we would find out and didn't put a trap in the front." Naruto said, desperate she would agree to reinforce the idea, since it seemed farfetched to him. "Or," Tayuya paused and faced him, "He is even more in our heads and put the trap anyway! We could be dealing with some guy who is psychic or has ESP or some s**t like that here!"

"Oh come on he couldn't have thought out that much. I mean, we came all this way for this and for it to stop here? That would suck!" Naruto tried to reassure her. Tayuya sighed and looked at him. Naruto didn't look away this time. If he did look away then that would only show how unsure of the comment he was.

Tayuya scrutinized Naruto with her vision. He stared straight at her, unblinking even. Tayuya felt her face the heat on her face grow and it get red and looked away before it turned noticeable. "Right," she said with closed eyes and a smirk, "Fate would be a bastard if we couldn't get passed this." She looked up to think. The moon stood in front of her vision, unnoticeably making its way higher in the sky. She processed all the events of the day that led up to here. Then is stuck her, and it stuck her hard. "Hey!-" she shouted out before Naruto covered up her mouth.

Naruto made a quick clone to look over the wall to see if any one noticed. It jumped down and shook its head before being disbanded. Naruto sighed in relief that they weren't over heard. Muffled talking and movement called his attention to his side. He found that his hand was still on Tayuya's mouth and it was obviously bugging her, in the least. Naruto held his hand there longer and said with a smirk, "Well try to contain the volume of your voice and settle down. You're a ninja for god's sake."

Tayuya wasn't oblivious to irony, and Naruto's comment screamed it. It was ironic that he has to tell her to settle down. So ironic, it pissed her off. It pissed her off so much that she bit Naruto's hand, which was still over her mouth.

Naruto was going to scream, but swallowed it, since it was exactly what she wanted. Instead he whisper-yelled at her. "What the hell was that for?!" Tayuya whisper-yelled back, "It was your own fault! You should have returned your hand as soon as you noticed it was still there!" Naruto had no come back for that, but instead changed the subject, "So what were you yelling about earlier?"

Tayuya thought for a while before remembering what had caused her out burst. "Do you remember what Toritarō said? That this guy felt safer at night or some thing like that?" Naruto looked at her for a while before responding, "I think it was something to he is less alert at night." "Well I was laughing to hard to pay attention." She quickly dismissed his argument, and waited before saying, "Maybe we should go back?"

Naruto nodded to her suggestion. With her back in his arms he ran off to 's house.

* * *

"I can see the news now: Nekomaru found missing from his estate, Toritarō becomes daimyo from lack of competition." Toritarō squealed again as the words finished. He sat reclined in his chair, hands resting behind his head as he hummed some meaningless tune. "I can't believe Gin got ninja for me! It my have only been luck but still. He actually had some use, too bad I released him." Toritarō went back to humming with a big smile on his face.

Moments had passed when there was a knock on the door. "Come in." Toritarō said with a singsong voice. Naruto and Tayuya stepped in, and Toritarō's face lightened up even more. He scuffled up to them and with an even more apparent singsong voice said, "Oh, you have already completed it? Oh happy day! Yes, yes. Thank you, thank you. Well, be off. And do keep in touch."

"The missions not over." Naruto said. Toritarō tensed up and turned to Naruto. He scrutinized them with his beady eyes. Naruto wasn't looking directly at him with a pissed look to him and Tayuya was giving him the most hate filled death glare he had received since his teenage years. Then a possibility dawned on him and he hid behind his desk, "You come to get me now?! What did Nekomaru pay you to kill me?"

Tayuya walked up to his desk, desperately trying to seem intimidating even though she couldn't stomp. When she came up to the desk she pounded her hand on the aforementioned bureau. "If that is how you will send us off we might as well kill you!" she yelled as Toritarō shuddered.

The man cringed and curled himself into a little ball as Tayuya went on a tirade. Over by Toritarō's windows Naruto noticed the glass panes were starting to crack, he would have said it was from Tayuya's voice if anybody asked. Before the glass fully shattered Naruto walked up to Tayuya as she was taking a breath to start again. He put his hand on him her shoulder and told her that was enough. She stopped immediately, venting her breaths to gain back the air she lost. Naruto stood at the foot of the desk and looked over it to see the ball of a man that was Toritarō curled on the floor. The man was shaking like a house during an earthquake and looked like he was going to piss himself if Tayuya continued.

The scene was pathetic, but Naruto refused to take pity, the man had almost ripped them off, and Naruto couldn't keep himself from getting angry. Naruto clenched his teeth in a desperate attempt to stop himself from yelling also. He spoke as calmly as he could, "So if we had completed the mission… it was going to be a pat on the back and that was it?" Naruto could not stop he voice from finishing what Tayuya had started on the glass during his next sentence, "What do you take us for?! I wanted at least to know someone else you know that would need a hired blade!"

By the time Naruto had finished Toritarō had caught something in their words. He stood up on his feet and beat on his desk with both hands repeatedly as he talked, "'if we completed the mission'? You mean to tell me that the mission is not even finished? You're ninja! How could you not complete the mission!" Toritarō's voice had gone serious again by the time he finished. Naruto got up into 's face and the latter seemed to want to curl up into a ball again. Naruto looked straight into Toritarō's eye with a fierce look as he spoke, "The bulk of the grounds besides the front are crawling with guards and just waltzing in through the front door isn't very sneaky now is it? Now allow us some time to think up a way to get through there without alerting the whole town and you'll have the mission finished." Toritarō gulped down his saliva after Naruto finished. Nervous of what they could do to him Toritarō quickly thought up a way to appease the two. He straightened up again and faced them both, "Fine I will allow you time to think up a plan of attack. You can board in my mansion while you wait."

Naruto's face lightened up and he nodded toward Toritarō. He looked at Tayuya who still looked a little annoyed but nodded to him and they left through the door. When the door shut, Toritarō fell to his chair and heaved a sigh. He brought up his hand to his forehead and started to rub it. He gave another sigh before he spoke, "I will never hire ninja again." Suddenly a draft blew through his now broken windows. Toritarō shivered and hugged himself for warmth then repeated, "Never!"

* * *

Naruto picked a room in Toritarō's backgrounds, which probably didn't see many guests since it was not decorated in any way and only had a mat on the floor. Tayuya had picked the room right next to him. Interestingly he had found a group of servants playing dice in his room. They all locked eyes with Naruto for a while before he had told them to pick another room. They all exited immediately, and Naruto got situated in the room. It wasn't long after the servants left that he heard Tayuya yell, "Get the hell out! I was here first!" and several crashes follow. Naruto smirked at hearing his companion's antics, even more so when he heard the servants pass by the door of his room and one servant said to another, "I like the blonde one better." Naruto chuckled to himself when he heard that.

He got out his last pajama shirt, some pajama pants, and his cap then laid on his mat. He didn't fall asleep immediately; instead he was planning how he would get around Nekomaru's security. To him it seemed that the man had anticipated their coming. Either that or the man was plain paranoid. Naruto thought all he could, but every plan he thought up had giant holes. The only way he would be able to do any of that was if he was invisible. But how would he do that?

Then an idea popped into his head. He put his hands into some seals and bellowed, "**Kengen No Jutsu**!" A pop and a cloud of smoke later and a scroll had made his way into his hand. The scroll was sizable and marked ninja jutsu. He sat up and pulled open the scroll. A few minutes of searching and he found exactly what he had hoped for, Toransupearenshi no Jutsu [1]. Only problem was that it needed a large amount of chakra, which he had, and a large amount of control.

Naruto frowned at that, but got passed it. There was nothing stopping him from testing it out. He went through the necessary hand signs and concentrated his chakra to make his cells transparent. He felt it happening and looked at his hand and found nothing, not even the clothing that he wore. He stood there staring at his hand, not seeing the appendage appear. He got up to walked around, finding it easy enough. After a moment or two though, he started to feel himself get tired. He released the jutsu and sat on the ground. He panted for a while; it had taken a lot out of him, which in a way was unbelievable. He had always found it easy to use a draining jutsu easily, for prolonged periods. On the bright side though, that would be long enough for him to infiltrate Nekomaru's estate.

Sill, this one was something else, it took so much out that he had lost all functionality in his legs. He sat down, panting; until he found himself at least good enough to walk he got to his mat. He replanted himself on the ground. He had lain down on his back to find that the scroll was still in the real world. He sat up again to roll up the scroll and un-manifest the work. While rolling up the scroll his eyes got caught on the Hone Saisei no Jutsu again. He stared down at the jutsu in his lap, the sight of it making his face droop to a frown. He wanted her to walk normally; he wanted her to run with him. But, that was just it; he wanted her to run with _him_. He didn't think that she would stay after her legs were healed. He feared the possibility.

Still he sat, his eyes focused on the jutsu. He started to growl, directing the rumble of his vocal cords at himself. He found himself stuck on another one. He didn't even know he had gotten over the other. He wasn't even too sure he was. He wasn't sure if he was actually feeling that. He had no guidance, no parent figure to help sort out these feelings. He had to sort them out for himself. All he knew was that he didn't want her to leave.

Finally he came to a conclusion: if she left, it wouldn't matter, because the thought of staying never crossed her mind. Naruto read over the scroll and memorized it. He even dove further to allow her to be completely healed. He found jutsu that would take away nerve damage, repair her bones to be good as new, and rebuild her muscles. By the time he would be finished with her, she would be back to her old strength, most likely better.

He examined every thing, memorizing and looking over it as if he studying for an exam. He was finished within an hour. He closed the scroll and stood up. Some of his chakra was regained as he was in an idle state while he was 'studying'. He silently walked out of his room to hers and slid open her door. There she lay in the middle of the room, sound asleep, with a small snore escaping her mouth from time to time. Naruto withheld the smile that wanted to show on his face, he was going to take no joy in doing this; no matter what good it would do for her. He walked over Tayuya's sleeping form and crouched at the end of the legs. He gave them a soft poke to them, earning a groan to come from her mouth.

He paused right there, down at her legs. He made it all this way, right to where his work would begin, and he froze. Naruto cursed and even called names on himself. He couldn't believe he could freeze up like this. Moments passed, for what was an eternity for Naruto, before he even acted. Trying to help himself get started he told himself that it would help her, and show him if it is worth to have her around. He repeated it many times in his head to try and get himself working. It finally got though and he started to work on her legs. Each and every move he did healed her more and more, took away pain, rebuilt muscle tissue, and fixed and strengthened her bones. Naruto did not know just how he was able to do it without severely botching everything, but it felt like it was the Kyuubi again shoving the knowledge of how to do it in his head. It was preposterous, but that was just the way it felt.

He got the thought out of his head quick before it over took his thought process and he made a mistake. It got to where it felt like it was only him and her in the entire world. It made him feel odd again, but he made himself get passed it.

Amazingly he had only worked half-an-hour when he finished. But that did not give him a sense of accomplishment. He stood up from his work and stood for he didn't know how long. He played the only possible scenario, to himself, in his head over and over.

She would wake up and get to her feet, finding it easy. That would surprise her. She would walk around, again finding it easy. She would feel no pain, her legs would not be weak, and she would actually be able to feel them. Amazed she would run to him and proclaim what happened. He would have to pretend he was surprised and glad. She would do a demonstration of what she found she could do. Again he would pretend. Then a variable amount of time would pass but most likely around the time they would leave the town she would say it is time to go "our separate ways" and go off to who knows where.

And it just went over and over, until Naruto ran out the room, to vent out his anger, and make progress as a nuke-nin in the process.

* * *

What Naruto did not know was that Tayuya was awake the entire time.

She had been up thinking exactly what he was thinking a first, how to get passed the guards without alerting the whole town. Then she started to hear motion from Naruto's room. It seemed as though he was working on something. After a while everything was silenced, that is, until she heard a growl, again from his room. There was a pause before she heard movement again.

Then she heard Naruto's door slid open and as soon as she heard Naruto go up to her door she played asleep, even snoring from time to time to sell it.

She heard Naruto walk up to her and do something near her legs. The possibilities of what exactly he was doing played through her head, not all exactly flattering to Naruto. Although there was this one thought that made its way into her head. He would lie down next to her and just stay there for the rest of the night, with his arms around her. It brought her face to crimson color, which Naruto wouldn't have noticed even if he was looking straight at her face thanks to the night. She groaned a bit when Naruto poked her in the legs. It seemed as though it had something to do with her legs. She had hoped that it was something to help them heal faster. A hope that was losing ground as time passed and Naruto did nothing, besides just be there at her side.

Then without warning she felt him start working on her legs. She immediately felt its affects, and the warm feeling of Naruto's chakra going through her body. When he finished she could feel her legs, when it was only a numb feeling before. She also had a periodic shock, for lack of better description that that ailed through the day, and she had felt that was gone. Some thing told her that her legs were no longer broken, or had any remaining damage. She found herself complimenting the blonde on his work, and her respect for him raise.

Then Naruto stood and against his character, there wasn't a chuckle coming from him. There was no reveling that he did always when something went his way. She was never a believer of the feel of people's emotions, but she could feel a depressed aura around him. What was odder was that he didn't leave for the longest time. And when he did, he ran out, with an angry feeling coupled with the depressed.

When she heard him leave as he did, Tayuya sat up, finding he didn't even close the door behind him. She didn't know what was going on, and it might not have mattered had she not known how the blonde was. Then what scared her was that she might have been concerned.

* * *

Naruto stopped on top of a building as he headed to Nekomaru's estate; some random building that had the misfortune of being there at that time as he was in that state of mind. He had stopped when the anger had been at its peak, and stood for only a second before he yelled. The yell was more reminiscent of a roar than it was any human exclamation. He did not care who heard, or that it was the middle of the night. As his breath ran out he brought his fist to the roof of the building he had landed on. He held nothing back and decimated the structure underneath.

For the luck of the people of the village, it wasn't any residential home or any place that had inhabitants in it. In fact by the generosity of fate the building had been abandoned for a while. Naruto dropped to the floor of the building and began work of destroying everything that stood in the structure. When Naruto was finished the building didn't have a roof and had kindling all over the ground, since most of what was left in the building was wood.

But it helped none to douse Naruto's anger, he felt possessed. Possessed by unventilated anger. Naruto then decided to put the anger to use. If he was going to be destructive, he might as well destroy the target.

Naruto made haste to Nekomaru's estate, using the Toransupearenshi no Jutsu to get passed the guards. He silently walked through the halls checking each room until he had found the master room. In there was a man laying on the floor, probably Nekomaru, in Naruto's mind. Naruto reached his left hand up to his right arm, dispelling the seal on the limb and bringing Tsume Akuma out.

Naruto calmly walked up to the laying form and brought up the claws above his head. Naruto slashed down to swipe at the neck. There was a ripping sound and the head rolled off. Naruto was about to walk of when his thoughts focused on the sound made by the body. A human body does not make a ripping sound. Naruto quickly turned around, bringing the other claw out as he did, and stopped a katana from slicing his body down the middle.

"So… you're Toritarō-san's goon huh? Never thought you would be a child." The swordsman said to Naruto. Naruto held the claws in position as he spoke back to the person, "Bet you didn't think I was a ninja!" and with that Naruto did the Kawarimi no Jutsu and a log took his place. The man unknowingly was still putting force into his katana even after Naruto did Kawarimi and the blade got caught in the log that substituted for the blonde. Naruto reappeared from the man's side and kicked the log that still held the blade tightly.

The man was slightly stunned by Naruto's quick move, but got passed it to run to his sword. Unfortunately for the man, Naruto kicked him to the floor before he even moved his feet. Naruto stood over the man and asked, "Are you Nekomaru?" The man spat back, "Yes I am, you little imp." Naruto dove the claws in his right hand down at the man but resealed the claws in that hand before they contacted. Instead of stabbing the man, Naruto punched him in the gut and then positioned himself on top of the man. "I wouldn't be giving names to people if I were in your position old man." Naruto said through a whisper.

There was a moment of silence before there was any noise or movement. Naruto was sorting out just what he was doing. When the silence was broken it was Nekomaru, "Well, is the agent of my old friend going to do his bidding or will I lay here for eternity?" Naruto punched the man again before answering, "You're lucky that I f***king don't kill you now. Enjoy your final breaths old bastard." "Such language! In my years a child has never talked like that! Your parents should be ashamed." Nekomaru scolded Naruto. It only made Naruto angrier. Naruto reared up his fist again, directing his clenched fist to Nekomaru's face. He then brought the man up by his collar and came face-to-face with him, "Stop talking. You will be dead soon enough. You have no reason to speed it up."

Nekomaru started to chuckle. "A ninja… is that what you call your self? Any other assassin in your place would of ended it right when I confirmed my name." when Nekomaru's words were done with the man spat at Naruto's face. Naruto angrily growled toward the man that lay before him. He brought up his left hand, the appendage still adorned with the claw apparatus. He positioned his fingers in a way that forced the claws points to converge at one spot. He picked up Nekomaru again by the collar and stared directly into the man's eyes. Although not on purpose, Naruto's eyes were over taken by their red rings and their slits narrowing. "Old man, I'll give you advise for your next life… Never anger Naruto no Kyūbi. It won't get you anything. Only a faster descent to the afterlife." Naruto said, unconsciously emulating his forgotten resident. With the words said Naruto brought down his left hand, slicing Nekomaru at the site of his neck.

Naruto stood up and looked at his work. The blood was spreading across the floor from both the body and the head. The head had landed at least three feet away form the body. Naruto brought his hand to his face slowly rubbing it as he looked at the decapitated head and all the blood. He rubbed his face even more as a realization came to mind and shook him, so much so his eyes widened in horror.

He had forgot to bring the clean up supplies. He brought his hand a few inches back from his face and took it back with more force, smacking himself. He looked back at his handiwork and though for a minute as to what he could do. He could burn the body in flames with Kitsune-bi No Jutsu. But that would leave a charred floor. He could just bring the body with him, but then the blood and the sword stuck in the log would be left. He could seal the body parts in one, or two since the body was in pieces, of his own body parts. Then he could take the log with the katana in it. Then that would only leave the blood. He would have to find some way of covering it up without leaving traces on any cloth from the house. Maybe he could have one of his clone's henge into an absorbent cloth. He never tried to henge into an item before. But no harm came from trying.

He summoned a clone to the right of himself. He had it henge into a cloth, to which it failed a couple of times. As the clone was running out of chakra and Naruto was losing all hope, the clone then suddenly transformed into exactly what was needed; a towel. Naruto looked back at the scene of his crime and his face faulted. He had not taken the bodies out of the environment first, so now there was more blood. He quickly drew his own blood on his right thumb, careful to not drop any onto the floor. He drew a seal onto his left palm and got the body of Nekomaru and sealed it into his hand. He did the same with the head, this time it was stored into his right hand.

He then picked up the henged clone, using its form to pick up the blood. Thankfully, the cloth picked up the blood nicely. Within a short time the blood was unnoticeable to every eye except maybe an anbu's. Not knowing if the blood would shoot off the clone after the jutsu was dispelled or not, and not wanting to chance it, Naruto packed away the cloth. With only one last task to do Naruto strode over to the katana that was sheathed into the log. He was about to pick it up and take it but then it dawned on him, if he took it, it would be evidence that something might have happened to Nekomaru. And then Naruto remembered the dummy he had sliced up in Nekomaru's bed.

Naruto scoured the room for some kind of pedestal the sword rested on. Luckily he had found it pretty easily, since it was against wall that faced the door to the room and was positioned almost in the perfect middle. Obvious this man had prized this sword. Naruto placed it right on the pedestal with care.

Re-remembering the dummy Naruto made his way to the mat that he had mistaken Nekomaru had been sleeping in. Naruto then sealed the dummy in random places on his body. Naruto took a short break before departing, since he would have to use the Toransupearenshi no Jutsu again.

As soon as he felt he could do it, Naruto snuck out of the room with the log in his hand, careful of any night servants.

If he had taken the time, Naruto would have noticed an etching on the blade. The etching was a message from friend to friend, _For my long time friend and accomplice, may this cut down those that try to cut y__ou- Toritarō._

* * *

The door to Naruto's room slid open, revealing Naruto himself, still in his pajamas. On his way back to Toritarō's mansion his fatigue had caught up with him. It grew even greater when he came into his room. He spied the mat on the floor and wanted to fall right onto it. He picked up his feet from the ground, although they only came up not even a centimeter from the floor, and moved to the mat. His feet dragged across the floor in an audible manner. They made scratching sounds that only ceased as he was before his bed. Without grace or any manner of elegance, Naruto fell to the mat face first. He tuned over onto his back and looked up at the ceiling.

He sighed as his eyes lids grew heavy and his muscles settled. His lips curled into a smile when he thought he was taken by sleep. But what he did not notice when he came was that the sun had rose in the distance. He had gotten up to the rising sun for most of his life. And usually he wasn't able to fall asleep after it, mostly because of the light that had bombarded his eyes. When Naruto found it difficult to fall asleep, it seemed to be true even though he had no sleep the previous night.

Even if he had gotten to sleep it wouldn't have lasted long as someone came bursting through his door after a period following him falling into his mat. The person had excited feet, almost dancing about the room he laid in. Naruto chose not to open his eyes, having already guessed who it was. To Naruto it was more likely it was Toritarō, having some how found out that he had already done the mission. The man was a little odd.

But his guess proved to be wrong as soon as the person had spoke.

"Naruto, I can't believe it!" came a voice that was naturally shrill and feminine. Naruto's eyes cracked open in surprise, mostly because that voice had never referred to him by name before, to his knowledge. He sat up to very much see Tayuya there, dancing, before him. He had never thought of her as a dancer before. Well, it was more of spontaneous movement more than dancing, but to his eye she was a ballerina, minus the pink tights and frilly tutu.

Naruto chuckled lightly and clapped causing Tayuya to turn to him with a confused look. "Whatcha clapping for?" she said while raising one eyebrow. "The dance." Naruto said simply while trying to stand, and having little success. "You call that dancing?" Tayuya started with smirk. Naruto, still trying to get up, nodded and said, "It looked elegant." Tayuya's face turned a light red from the comment. Luckily for her it faded before Naruto got on his feet.

Naruto stretched and yawned, he overplayed a little to make it seem as though he had slept all night, or at all. As he finished his half-faux act, he smiled at Tayuya with his usual smile, again trying to act like he did not just come home. After that they stood in silence, until Tayuya said something that took Naruto aback. "Thank you." she said in a murmur. Naruto stood eyes wide at her statement of gratitude. He quickly changed his expression, played oblivious and asked, "What are you thankful for?" as he rubbed the back of his head. Tayuya scowled at him and said, "Don't play dumb with me." Naruto held no expression as he retorted, "You mean ignorant."

Tayuya bought her right leg forcefully to Naruto's face as she said, "Don't ever f**kin' correct me again!" Naruto, from lack of needed sleep and loss of reaction time because of it, fell flat to the floor as the kick connected to his head. A muffled "Ow" came form the floor since Naruto's face was directly coupled to it. Naruto got to his feet again, slightly faster than last time thanks to Tayuya's kick brushing off most of his fatigue. As Naruto faced Tayuya again, this time with a welt on his face, the latter began to speak again. "You know well why I want to thank you." she moved a bit closer to him, making him feel a bit odd, "You fully healed my legs. After all you didn't seem to surprised that I 'danced'." Her face was all too smug when she finished.

Naruto could have smacked himself when she told him that. Although it wasn't that much his fault for forgetting to act early on since he had not got a wink of sleep. He looked at her with a big smile again, and got out "I, uh, I" before he was interrupted again. "You're going to stop dancing around the fact you know what I am talking about-" Tayuya started until she, too, was interrupted. "You mean like how you danced?" Naruto asked in a smart-aleck way. Tayuya checked him with a jab to his gut.

Tayuya stood over the now laying Naruto with her arms crossed, and her face showing signs of total-berserk anger. "No…not how danc- I mean, I didn't dance. You were dancing around the fact you healed me last night." She looked down at Naruto, who was flat on his back, clutching his stomach. Then the blonde's started to speak, "It was past midnight so you mean this morn-" Tayuya stomped on him before he could finish. But then her mouth turned into a smirk, "So you admit it. God damn, finally." There was a pause as she was at a loss of words, "So… yeah, thank you."

Tayuya began to notice snoring at her feet, and looked down accordingly. There was Naruto, curled up like some cat, or feline-like animal, dead asleep, and snoring. Now Tayuya could have put it passed her if she knew just what the boy was up to last night, but to her it seemed as though she put him asleep. Asleep being used sarcastically by her.

On the other side of town children cried, animals ran away, and houses shook to their foundation, and those were the lucky ones, when a shrill cry, that distinctly said, "Wake the f**k up you dumb as s**t motherf**ker!" rumbled from the western direction of town.

"I ought to rip out your vitals for falling asleep while I am talking dips**t!" Tayuya yelled at the blonde. Naruto sat in a daze from the lashing Tayuya had given only a second ago, and hardly listened as she went on a tirade. He thought as he sat there, slightly bleeding, he began to wonder what was up with all the women he knows. Sakura was actually kinda like Tayuya, when it came to temper. If Sakura had a mouth like Tayuya, or vise versa, he would not be able to tell them apart, when they were yelling. Ino was a close one behind Sakura, and Naruto was actually sure Shikamaru would have said that Ino took the closest to Tayuya, which was possible, since Naruto didn't hang out with Ino that much. Then there was Garra's sister. She could be a total psycho, if she treated her personal life like she did her ninja one. Out of all of them only Hinata and Lee's and Neji's teammate, seemed slightly sane, but he didn't know what they did behind closed doors. Hinata could have some kind of ungodly shrine dedicated to him, and the other, Ten-ten, hell Ten-ten could have been the reason that he seen Lee look like some massacre victim at the end of the day.

Maybe Shikamaru had the right idea; a normal girl would be the better choice among the ones that he knew.

A swift smack to the face had caused his thoughts to leave his head. He turned face to the one who carried the hand that smacked him, Tayuya. The woman seemed to be seething with anger; she looked like she would kill him right then and there. "You're not even listening to me! I ought to-" Tayuya started be for she was interrupted. "I get it, I get it. You're mad at me for falling asleep while you were talking. No need to bleed my ears out, especially since I didn't get to sleep at all last night." Naruto interjected calmly.

"What happened?" Tayuya asked, her voice sounded too concerned for herself. Naruto looked up at her, since he was still on the floor, and she still stood. His mind was deciding what to tell her and what not, although it should have bee obvious, again his sleepiness had gotten the better of him. He suspected his chakra exhaustion had something to do with it too. Finally after five minutes of sorting it out he had gotten out, "I completed the mission."

He had suspected praise, and like all the other times he had, it didn't happen. "You mean to tell me you went off by yourself to complete the mission without _me_?" Tayuya growled out. Naruto nodded stupidly, and could have smacked himself a second afterward, but Tayuya beat him to the punch. "What the hell! That was going to be _our _first mission as nuke-nin, not _yours_." Tayuya shot out. Naruto, as calmly as he could, lied, "I thought me healing your leg was a good trade off."

"Oh f**k! I knew it! You think I am useless, don't you? Thought 'hey, faster her legs are healed the faster I can forget the promise.' Well guess what boy!" Tayuya paused, and Naruto thought the dreaded moment was speed up because of him, "If you think that then I just have to show you how f**kin' wrong you are!" That was not what Naruto thought she would say, but it was still likely she was beating around the bush. Tayuya started to stretch out on her legs as she started talking again, "Think I can't do a thing, huh? Well how about a race. I'll beat your whiny a**, I'll bet you that. Winner gets to pick where we eat for breakfast. I am tired of only eating ramen!"

Naruto stood in a daze for about a second before he got up and started to stretch too. "So…where to?" He asked a determined look on his face. Tayuya smirked, "Five miles east." she said. "To the town's square? Are you sure your legs can handle that?" Naruto said in a sarcastic way. "Hell yeah! I am just wondering if you will still be hungry after eating my dust!" Tayuya answered back.

"Wow, Tayuya-chan really original." Naruto said, "Alright, fine. Ramen if I win."

"Way to state the obvious, dips**t. Then it would be sushi when it is me." Tayuya retorted.

"Ugh, how could you torture your body with that stuff?" Naruto asked, disgusted by the suggestion.

"Shut up. I could ask you the same question." Tayuya responded.

They crouched into racing stances, after they finished mocking each other. They both spoke at the same time, "Ready? Set. GO!!!"

And they both took off out the door, both jumping the back gate of Toritarō's estate.

* * *

Luckily for Naruto the only place that was open at the crack of dawn was the local ramen stand. It just was that Tayuya wouldn't stop her taunting towards Naruto since she won. And no matter how much he tried to reason with her, telling her that he didn't get to sleep at all, while she got a full nights rest was unfair. She only answered with, "Too f**king bad.

Naruto could hardly revel in the fact that he was having his ramen. Even after his tenth bowl the ramen did not taste as sweet as it would have if she had stood in silence while eating. It was only manners to not speak when eating. Of course he had only put stock in the saying now that it mattered to him, but still.

Tayuya didn't understand why Naruto couldn't take a little teasing. He had gotten what he wanted in the end, and she knew it wasn't the fact she beat him, because as soon as they learned it was going to have to be ramen for breakfast the blonde went crazy, seeming like some kid, just getting a new toy. And now here he was, looking like that ramen tasted like the vilest thing on the planet, and she could almost bet that he blamed her in some way. After she finished her fourth bowl she complained to him, "Oh come on! It is not like me talking is making that ramen any worse than it already is!"

Naruto took a second to respond since he didn't say anything like that, "You don't know that! For the best taste there has to be good feelings all around, or is spoils the ramen's deliciousness!" Tayuya's eye twitched, "Fine," she said calmly, "Let's see just how good it is in the quiet."

After the small argument they sat in silence, eating their respective ramen. It took a whole other bowl before Naruto said, "Wow…I don't believe it but you're right. The ramen does taste s**tty." Tayuya laughed at Naruto's curse, "Damn, it must have been bad if it made you curse." He looked up from the bowl in front of him, to the stand owner in front of him. His eyes displayed pure sadness, and Tayuya could have sworn a tear fell from his eye. "How could you call this ramen!" Naruto yelled at the owner. Tayuya smacked him to his senses, "You do this at every stand you have been to so far! How could that Ichi-whatever be so great!" Naruto was about to correct her when the owner yelled out, "Ichiraku?! You mean you have tasted Ichiraku's ramen? No wonder you do not like my lowly substance compared to the ramen of divinity that is Ichiraku's."

Tayuya brought her palm to her face, another one, she thought.

"I would give anything to have that recipe!" the owner said. Naruto, being the eccentric one when it came to ramen, said, "I wouldn't do anything to that stand if you could give me the world!"

"How much we talking?" Tayuya said; mostly to spite Naruto.

"Oh I would never want to steal from him, but the ramen is so delicious." The owner swooned, Naruto agreed in a similar way. Before it escalated into some fanatical conversation between maniacs Tayuya took Naruto, and paid using money she had 'borrowed' from the blonde recently.

* * *

Naruto and Tayuya were walking through the town, no real objective in mind, just to wander, for the sake of wandering. After they had left the stand, Naruto refused to talk with Tayuya, since he would have made his very best friend back there. Tayuya also refused to talk since it would only make the blonde whine about his ramen. It bugged her how he could be so strong at one point and childish the next, it was like there was no serious situation for him. Every time that happened she just wanted to smack him in the face, but how would that help. No body would be so sadistic to hit him each time the man turned childish.

Naruto looked around, having a heavy feeling that he was being watched. He discovered he was, by everyone they passed by. He was starting to feel like he was in the village again. Only thing was that the looks were of confusion and amusement, not hatred or anything like that. He turned toward Tayuya, with his own confused face and asked, "Why are people looking at me funny?"

Tayuya turned to him, a questioning look on her face, asking to repeat the question. Naruto sighed, "Why is everybody looking at me funny?" Tayuya let an "Oh" escape her mouth before she answered plainly, "You're still in your pajamas."

Naruto looked down at the wardrobe he had on, and sure enough he was still in his pajamas and his cap still atop his head. Naruto wondered how the cap stayed on when it hit him. "Crap!" he yelled out as he turned around and started to run back west to Toritarō's estate. Tayuya turned too and yelled at him while running, "I was wondering when you would notice!"

* * *

Naruto sat in his room, clothed normal, with the exception of his jacket since it was too warm out side. He yawned trying to stay awake. He waited for Toritarō to wake so he could report on the mission. Plus the town was boring so he wouldn't have anything to do anyway. He was tried to stay awake, failing miserably, when finally Toritarō came through the door, in his serious manner.

"Ninja-san," Toritarō said from lacking the knowledge of Naruto's name, "one of my servants said you wanted to see me?" Naruto looked at the door to the room, slightly smiling at the man's punctuality, he had almost fallen asleep. "Thank you for coming so soon." Naruto said to the man, "The mission was completed late last night- err early this morning."

Toritarō then did what he usually did when he got good news; he acted weird. He scuffled up to Naruto, with a giant stupid smile on his face, and saying, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Toritarō squealed again after he shot of thank you-s to Naruto. "You really are a help lad, if there is anything-" Toritarō started before Naruto cut him off. "You should very much know what I want, more clients." He said with a plain face, which had the beginnings of anger.

"O-oh r-right well I know this man, Mashi Nagato, in a city north of here, not an assassination but he needs and body guard for an expedition. From what I heard he still has not found one." Toritarō informed Naruto. Naruto smiled at the man before getting up. He walked out the door and patted the man on the back. Out of reflex the man jumped back, still suspecting Nekomaru of paying them off. Naruto stared at the man as he tried to make himself smaller. Naruto gave the man a warm smirk before walking out the door to go to Tayuya's room.

Toritarō slumped his shoulders, "I swear these ninja are going to kill me." Suddenly the door to the room opened suddenly with tremendous force. There at the door stood Naruto, and Toritarō was about to ask what happened when Naruto rushed to the man direction. Toritarō could feel his heart stop, and was sure that death took him. Naruto was getting closer and Toritarō closed his eyes waiting for it to happen, hoping it would not be painful.

A minute passed and nothing happened, Toritarō opened his eyes to see Naruto leave through the door, a scroll in his hand that popped out of existence the next second. The man stood for a minute before fainting.

* * *

Naruto and the now informed Tayuya stood at Toritarō's front gate, waiting for the guard to open it. They stood, waiting for minutes, forever to both, until the gate opened.

The walk through town was uneventful, and Naruto could have sworn he fell asleep walking. They came to the northern border, and Naruto, who still feared Tayuya leaving, could not take it any more.

"So… I guess this is when you want to leave." He said downtrodden. "What?" Tayuya turned toward him, with a surprised look to her. "You want to leave now… right?" he said looking away from her. "Who told you that?" She said with her anger rising. Naruto raised his eyebrow at her reaction, "I assumed you wo-" "You assumed wrong! Where would I go if did anyway?" She interrupted him.

Naruto stood for a while before saying stupidly, "I don't know." Tayuya smacked her face and looked towards him, "You are never missing a nights sleep again. It makes you f**king retarded. Now, are we going to go or what?'

Naruto nodded to her and lead the way. He stopped as soon as they were a good distance away from the town.

"What now?" Tayuya asked with a little desperation in her voice.

Naruto held out his hands and released both seals on the appendages. Tayuya hardly cringed when the body pieces of Nekomaru shot out of the seals. Naruto performed some hand seals and bellowed, **Kitsune-bi No Jutsu**. A ball of fire shot out of his mouth and headed toward the body.

When the body was nothing but dirt on the ground Naruto started to walk north, with Tayuya walk silently behind him.

* * *

Chapter eleven down and out. For those who liked this, tell me. And for those who would like to point out a mistake, again tell me.

[1] Toransupearenshi no Jutsu- technique of transparency

For those who care, I didn't like the way that the interactions between the two turned out. If you didn't like it i am on board, i would have revised that but it probably wouldn't be any better.

Thank you and review. Later.


	12. Preparations

Lumenatrum with chapter 12 of Spiral Tailed.

I made another long one this time, and finished it before the end of this month. I feel happy with this for the most part, and I hope you do too.

Disclaimer: For information regarding ownership of the Naruto series, please direct yourself to previous chapters of Spiral Tailed. If you need customer service please press one. If you pressed one, actually trying to get service, I regret to inform you that you may have a low IQ. If you did it because you were bored, I would like to inform you that you aren't the only one.

For story progress please scroll down.

* * *

Preparation

The sun beat down on him, literally baking the blonde. He had never experienced heat like this, and did not want to ever again. And by curse of fate to Naruto, the treeless field that was the bulk of the country allowed the heat to go unhampered. Unfortunately for him, his missions might not escape the border country he was in for a while. Not until he was more famous and he started getting requests from others for missions. Until then the pre-desert sun was going to bake him to a golden brown and he was most likely going to suffer from heat stroke pretty soon.

He looked toward the left of him, the side in which his companion walked at. She seemed to be having no trouble with the heat. In fact she looked as if she was going normally through the climate of Fire country. He couldn't help but be jealous at her immunity to the temperature.

Naruto looked down at her legs. They were moving nicely and for two days he had been reveling in his work. He had done it silently for the first hour, and then audibly the rest of that day, that was until Tayuya got tired of it. She had punched him in the arm, hard enough for Naruto to stop talking, and yelled at the blonde until her face was adorned with a blue tint. Ever since then Naruto chose to applaud himself in silence.

"What is it?" His redheaded companion asked him, the tone of her voice telling her discomfort at Naruto's unconscious stare. The blonde twitched when she spoke and faced forward, "Just wondering why the heat is not affecting you." He turned back to her with his usual smile with the hope it would disarm her anger. She scrutinized him with her vision, as she always did when she was trying to catch him in a lie. Naruto guessed she found no fault when she said, "Because I am not some whiny blonde bastard."

Naruto was about to accept the answer when the words registered. He looked at her with a mock appalled look and said, "Who told you I had no parents?" He laughed a little before continuing seriously, "I am not whiny Tayuya-chan."

Without looking back at him she said, "Hell yes you are." Naruto pouted at her, "Am not."

"Are too." she answered back. "Am not." Naruto repeated as he looked away from her. His face held a smile at the fact that he might trap her into acting childish. She seemed to not like anything relating to acting like a kid. That said he almost laughed when she answered back, "Are too." Fortunately for him he kept his cool as he said, "Am not." his grin going devilish.

The back and forth continued for a while, Tayuya never caught on that Naruto had caught her in a never-ending spiral, and he was thoroughly enjoying it. He would have had it go on for hours but unfortunately for him Tayuya's patience was waning. Naruto gave just one too many "Am not"-'s and it made the redhead go berserk. "Are too!" she yelled as she punched him in the face. Naruto's knees buckled and he fell to the ground while Tayuya kept walking normally.

He let an 'ow' escape his lips as his face met the ground. Tayuya stopped when she heard the thud that came when Naruto met the dirt. Naruto lay at on the ground for a while, unmoving. He then picked his head up from the ground and looked at Tayuya, "A-am n-n-not." Naruto slowly got to his feet. As soon as he was on his feet Naruto restarted to walk.

Tayuya seemed to stop at the game Naruto had started, making the blonde unhappy. He was bored out of his mind, and messing with Tayuya was the only thing that doused it.

The sporadic settling of the country still got on his nerves. If there were stops on the way, the walk would be more bearable. Unfortunately that was not the case. Tayuya didn't help, since she neither wanted to talk nor did she want to run to the next destination.

The only thing that could be done was for Naruto, himself, to take up the duty of being his entertainment. Now that would be easy if his companion wasn't a hitter. The easiest way to find entertainment is to bug the people around you. Tayuya stopped that course of action with the way she reacted to it. Violently. They only way Naruto could enjoy it was if she never caught on to the fact that he was messing with her. That way is not as enjoyable compared to the reaction you would get if a normal person caught on, but Tayuya proved to be not normal.

Earlier he had messed with her, and in hindsight it was a bit much, by making her believe that the Kyuubi was taking over. The result had gotten him an early sleep. The day he did that being only yesterday; he had woken up this morning to find that Tayuya had set up camp while he was asleep and was waiting for him. He had tried to apologize but she refused to talk to him. He had gotten her to cool down by pleading, which seemed to work on her. He made note that begging on his knees helped his cause with her.

He was desperately trying to come up with his next plan, boredom quickly making its way to him. But no matter how much he thought, there was nothing he could do that would keep him from getting injured. Every plan he thought up seemed to always end the same way, he would find himself with a new welt on his head.

"Hey is that the village?" Naruto heard Tayuya call. He looked ahead to see a village starting up in the distance. Naruto was beaming happily when he heard, "Want to race?" from the side his companion was located. He looked towards her, finding that she had a manic smirk to her. Naruto took a manic grin to couple with her smirk and answered, "Same bet?" She nodded to signify her acceptance, while also signifying the start of the race.

They both ran off without further word.

* * *

High pitched laughing echoed through the streets after both Naruto and Tayuya had entered the town. "Suck it loser!" Tayuya said to Naruto. "I let you win." Naruto retorted to the redhead. Tayuya started to laugh harder, "Oh, yeah f**king right. I won, and you can't deny it. Besides I don't think you would let me win since your precious ramen was on the line." Tayuya continued to laugh as they walked through the streets. To be factual, she had a little skip in her step as she went down the road.

Naruto kept his eyes on her as she went, keeping a slight smile on his face. Although he lost, he couldn't help but smile at her antics. He must have been rubbing off on her, now if it would only it would follow on her language.

Tayuya skidded to a stop as she passed a stand. Its sign made it known that they sold sushi. She turned to Naruto, who was walking slowly to the location, taking in the sights. Tayuya held a devilish smile when she seen Naruto's reaction as he read the stand's sign. The smile grew when he turned to look at her, a defeated expression on his face. "You're not getting out of this, you know that." She said to the blonde. Naruto nodded, dejectedly.

The both stood outside the stand for a while, Tayuya was waiting for Naruto to walk in to enjoy his defeat more, while Naruto waited, not wanting to be the first in the stand. Tayuya got tired of waiting quickly and pushed Naruto into the stand. The blonde did not recover since he had not anticipated Tayuya to do that. His face hit a stool in the stand and he feel face flat on the ground, just as Tayuya took her seat.

Tayuya ordered for both of them, since she knew that Naruto probably wouldn't know what to order anyway. After a moment's wait their orders came, just as Naruto got up and took his seat. He took one look down at the food and wanted to retch. He was never one for anything raw. He mostly hated vegetables because of that fact. That and no matter how one cooked them they tasted bland. He looked at Tayuya, who caught his gaze immediately, his eyes pleaded for her to not make him eat the food. She easily read him and held his gaze for a while longer for affect. Her face turned back to her food and she said, "Fine, it's not my money paying for this."

Naruto registered her words in an instant and took out his wallet. If this next guy did not pay cash this time, they wouldn't have very much to go on. Naruto sighed, wasting money now would be idiotic, and he may be stubborn, but he was not an idiot, not anymore. He picked up a pair of chop sticks and got some unknown fish that was wrapped in what looked like seaweed.

He took a nibble of the fish, not finding it disgusting, but not mouth-watering either. He ate the whole piece, mostly to make sure he didn't have to savor it. He took the fewest number of chews before swallowing the uncooked fish. As soon as the raw meat was making its way down to his stomach, Naruto looked down at the rest of what he had to eat. There were four more of the kind he just ate, while there were five shrimp looking things, and other stuff he could not describe.

He turned to his right to see Tayuya looking at him. He felt his face heat up but brushed it off as soon as she said, "Well?" Naruto looked at her, then back to the fish, and back to her, "I wouldn't eat it if it was my choice, but absolutely necessary, I wouldn't mind." He crossed his arms and looked forward as he finished the sentence. Tayuya made a slight smirk as she turned back to her food, at least it was progress.

Then a thought passed through her head, it gave her an idea as to how to mess with the blonde. She turned back to him, not caring that a grin played on her face, "Hey enjoy this, next time I win it will be vegetarian for your a**." Naruto's surprise to the proclamation was evident. He turned to his companion with a horrified face, "W-w-what?"

Tayuya looked back at him with a glare and mockingly said, "Y-y-you heard me."

The ends of Naruto's eyebrows arched into a sad expression, "You're messing with me…right?" His voice was pleading.

Tayuya's grin grew more, "I could be…or, I could be serious. Don't worry you will find out after our next competition. Cause you won't win."

"Flukes! All flukes! Just wait until I get serious, you would be left in a cloud of dust." Naruto retorted back. Tayuya's features held a plain look as she said, "I can believe that."

Naruto was prepared for anything she would have thrown at him, except that. He didn't have really anything to say. When the words sunk in, and although every fiber in his body told him not to say it, he asked, "What's that supposed to mean?" He knew he said wrong as soon as Tayuya looked at him with a glare, "Oh, I'm sorry, I guess I am new to this 'complementing' business, but what I was trying to say was _if_ you were serious you _would_ beat me. But your inner child hampers you like dead weight."

"That ended up more like an insult in the end." Naruto pointed out, seemingly having not taken notes on what gets Tayuya mad.

Her eyes narrowed more, her brows arched at a fine angle, and aura the equivalent to hell's fire radiated from her. "Did you just correct me?" she said, looking at Naruto in such a way as to make her anger very clear.

Naruto, again seemingly remembered nothing about the girl in front of him, said, "Yeah, and?"

"You're going to run now. And you're going to have to be serious to out run me." Tayuya said with a condemning voice.

Finally realizing that he was in a dire situation, Naruto got off the stool and slowly walked backwards from the hell fire redhead.

She jumped off her stool, grabbing both their plates in the process. She took a handful of sushi and held it in the air. "You're going to choke on it, jacka**!" Naruto broke into a run just as Tayuya started hers.

* * *

The Konoha streets were bustling with the residents of said village. Each of the people walking through the streets were captivated by their own objectives and destinations that pertained to being a civilian. Although they knew of the ninja that inhabited their village, they remained unaffected by both their presence in the village and the endeavors they did on their missions. That said; no one even flinched when a young ninja in a green vest passed over head.

The young ninja heaved a heavy sigh, he was always the one to do things like this, or at least nowadays. He hated retrievals; they haven't ended well with him yet. But he would likely have better luck with this one, since it didn't involve defection. Even so, the person he was supposed to find wasn't the most discreet with her anger.

He leaped from roof to roof over the village of Konoha, not going at a great pace since he was and forever will be lazy. So not as quickly as some of his friends he made his way to his destination. Where it would have taken seconds for others, it took him minutes.

He found the house and landed on top of the roof of the building. From there he walked to an edge of the roof and looked down the house's side. Luckily on the first try he found the window of the girl's room, if the pink hair lying on the bed was any indication. He dropped down from the roof onto the sill of the window, landing nimbly. He sighed before he knocked on the glass.

There wasn't a reaction from the girl. He knocked once more, hoping he wouldn't end up injured from all of this. The pink haired girl sat up and looked at her window to see Shikamaru. He noticed that she held a glare at him. She walked up to her window and mouthed, "Leave me alone, Shikamaru." before she closed her curtains.

Shikamaru sighed again before quietly saying, "I hope to god that I did not catch her on that." He knocked on the glass once more. A second later and the curtain was pulled open, revealing Sakura with a raged expression. She pulled open her window and yelled, "No!" before she put out her hand to push Shikamaru.

He fell to the ground, not caring enough to try to land on his feet, as he said, "Troublesome."

The people of Konoha were shocked as the lone ninja fell into the streets. Many looked up, as if it was a possibility that it was raining ninja. The owner of the fruit stand Shikamaru just so happened to land on was stupefied by the carnage of his merchandise. The owner bent over the Nara boy with a sneer. "Boy," the man began, "I'd like to know how you are going to pay for the damage to both my stand, and all the fruit you crushed under your body?"

Shikamaru looked up at the man from his position on the fruit and plainly stated, "Put it on the Nara tab."

Without apology or any kind of farewell, Shikamaru got up from the stand. He still had something to do, so he jumped up, landing again on Sakura's window sill. The girl was back to lying on her bed and didn't take notice that he was back. He looked around the window, hoping he would not have to break it and run up the family tab again. Luckily for this family's wallet Sakura had left the window a crack open. He pulled it open and jumped into the room. The pink-haired girl took no notice to him as she lay still on her bed. He then sighed out, "Sakura, come on we were called hours ago."

"I'm not going." was heard from the pillow she hugged against her face. Again Shikamaru sighed before he responded, "It isn't a choice. You were all for it last time we were called out to get him, so why not now?"

Sakura got up to look at him after that, a scowl parading on her face. "Did you see him?" she started angrily, "It was obvious that he did not want to come back! He even killed an anbu from Konoha; Naruto always said he would protect Konoha's residents. He proclaimed it every day. He would become Hokage to rule over the village and protect its inhabitants. It doesn't matter that the man was a traitor, Naruto would always find a way around killing someone."

"The anbu attacked him first remember. Since he is not being held as a criminal being followed for a hit, it would not be held against him. Kill or be killed, it is something us ninja know. And I can't help you with him not wanting to come back. There were things we didn't know. Things that are preventing him from wanting to come back." Shikamaru looked down upon the pink-haired girl before him before he continued, "But, even so, I know that is not what is bothering you."

Sakura gave Shikamaru an incredulous look when she said, "What are you talking about." Shikamaru's face turned to an expression of anger, "You didn't care about that, and you knew that he was fed up with his treatment here. Even if you didn't know before, the briefing had included that explanation. Sasuke was just as serious as Naruto, you know that first hand. He was serious all the way to the point where he attacked you, Ino, _and Naruto_ in the hospital. Even then, at his trial you tried to defend him. What is it about Naruto that is any different?"

Shikamaru didn't say it but he already knew, he just wanted her to say it from her mouth, it is usually better for the person that way. Plus there is no denial if they admit it. Sakura clenched her teeth, before looking back at Shikamaru with a glare, "There is nothing."

Shikamaru didn't want to interrogate her, was what Ino wanted to do. Besides she would talk only when she wanted to. He sighed, his face still holding a bit of anger and said, "Fine, then you're coming right now."

* * *

After finishing the chase, Tayuya having stuffed all the sushi down Naruto's throat, they walked down the town's streets, looking for the Yoruyonaka Houmon [1], a gentlemen's club they were told that Nagato went to periodically. Tayuya was disgusted by the idea of having to go inside it, having known what a gentlemen's club was. Meanwhile Naruto was mentally preparing himself for the high class people he thought he was going to meet.

After searching the streets for a while, the two found it. The building was located on the right of the street. Since its sign above the entrance gave nothing as to what was inside, Naruto still prepared his manners. They stepped inside and Naruto was shocked as to what he saw. He averted his gaze from the women who danced naked inside of the club and turned to his companion, his expression still holding shock. "W-w-what the hell Tayuya-chan, I thought this was a g-gentlemen's club. Why f**k are we in a brothel?"

Tayuya thanked to god he knew what a brothel was, even if the thought of him in a brothel did piss her off, since it simplified the explanation, "A gentlemen's club is nothing but a brothel where you can't touch the women unless you give a large amount of money. If you choose not to _do_ anything, you can just watch them and pay a smaller amount of money."

Naruto nodded in acceptance of the explanation, but did not turn back. Instead he turned fully from the women dancing. He seen a man standing behind a bar counter north of his position and scooted to him, making sure to not look at the women.

The man at the counter, who looked only just old enough to be there, turned his attention from the cup he was pouring into, possibly for himself, to Naruto. Without trying to make Naruto feel welcome, the man said, "Uh, yeah, sir?" a kind of venom dripping from his words. Naruto was slightly aggravated by the man's tone but went on, "Do you know if a Mr. Nagato is here?" The man was about to answer when he realized he needed to look down to see Naruto. The man's eyes narrowed, "How old are you?"

Naruto was about to tell him, but decided against it. Instead he got his hand ready to his right arm as he said, "I'm old enough to kill." The man's eyes stood narrowed as he said, "I don't accept empty threats-" With barely a blur and rising smoke, Naruto stood on the counter with Tsume Akuma pointed at the man's throat, "Who said it was an empty threat? I am here to answer a mission inquiry. Now will you tell me if he is here or not, or will I hold murder of innocent onto my record?"

"I-I-I believe that Mr. Nagato is here. He is our best customer. H-his usual spot is over in our Northern corner. In fact I did see him enter, he should be there." The man babbled out as fast as he could. Naruto held his position, the claws still pointed at the man's neck, scrutinizing the man like Tayuya had done to him many times before. Honestly he hadn't the slightest idea what he was supposed to do, but it did make the man look like he was close to pissing his pants. Naruto guessed it was the way his eyes looked, something he had caught in a mirror one of the nights he had stayed at an inn.

Finally, since he still did not know if the man was lying or not, he jumped off the counter while saying, "If I do not find him you might find yourself in the next life without the slightest idea of what happened." Naruto walked off hearing the man stutter out, "Y-y-yes sir." Naruto smiled wide when he heard it but still turned to correct him, "Filth, I am Naruto no Kyūbi to you." Naruto started to walk again, dispelling Tsume Akuma, when he heard, "Yes, Naruto no Kyūbi-san."

Naruto heard, "Nice one." from his side. He turned to see Tayuya there with a slight smirk. He chuckled to himself, some reason really liking her compliment.

Naruto made it to the northern left corner, which was only a turn from the bar, since the street the building ran on went from north to south. He found a man sitting there at a booth, eyeing a girl in a bikini on the table in front of him. The man had a lecherous grin on his slightly aged face. The man's eyes were beady, a green-brown tint adorning his irises. His hair was a dirty blonde, almost light brown. His skin was tanned, natural for his location. He had a large build that showed he did hard labor.

He looked to Tayuya, who caught his gaze, and using only his eyes asked if that might be him. Tayuya only shrugged in response. Naruto turned back and made sure to carry himself in a way to look confident. He walked up to the man, his posture slipping since he had to look at the woman on the table. By the time he got to the man, his posture had reduced by half and his face was boiling red. Although he was able to keep his voice from cracking and stuttering, "Are you Nagato-san?"

The man looked from the girl to Naruto, still holding that lecherous grin. "What was that?" the man sort of slurred out. Naruto said louder, "Are you Nagato-san?" The man nodded, confirming his name. Naruto went on, "We are inquiring about an expedition, as it was put, that you needed help with. Is it still available?"

The man started to laugh heavily, gesturing Naruto to sit next to him at the table he was at. Naruto took it without question, but grew silent at the sight the seat brought. The girl may not have been naked, yet, but it was close enough for Naruto to grow a bright crimson. He looked over to Tayuya, who hadn't taken her seat yet, finding her pissed. He had an idea why, since he was at the edge of the booth seat and Tayuya would have to look around the girl to see him. He asked that man to scoot over so Tayuya could sit next to him, not wanting to have to look around the girl on the table to see her either.

With all three of them situated, Nagato leaned over to Naruto, slightly whispering, "You're young, you old enough to drink?" Naruto looked at him and answered back, "No, but I am old enough to kill." The man laughed at the cynical joke and again turned to the boy, "Well then I guess you aren't old enough to be here, legally. I'll make this short since I am not going to leave Himiko alone tonight. A decade ago, there was a large vein of gems found in a quarry west of here. Details are that a town was going to be built there. Anyway, after that many miners flocked to the area. I was included. The mining lasted for a couple of years before an accidental blast caved in the mine. Everyone got disheartened by it, except for me. Ever since that day, I have been secretly traveling to that point, mining it for myself. My labor earned me the fruit it produces, I rediscovered the vein. I wouldn't need you if I didn't find out that I was being watched. There were little hints here and there. Like the feeling that comes with being watched. It was confirmed when I found an abandoned camp, the char from the fire still smoking. My guess is that they were ninja, since they were good a covering up their tracks, but not excellent." "Most likely genin." Naruto interrupted, sounding professional in inexperience, "But it is still quite a feat you were able to find it." Nagato nodded to him before continuing, "I stopped mining after that, since I feared for my life. I have no doubt that they have been mining it in my absence. But I have a feeling that that vein goes on for a long time. All I need you to do is make sure that they don't comeback until I have gotten my fill of that vein. I will give you a good portion of what I find. Do you understand?" Nagato finished.

Both the redhead and the blonde nodded, almost in sync. Nagato grinned at them and said, "Alright you two have the night. Tomorrow, an hour after dawn, meet me at the western gate so we can shove off." Naruto got up after Tayuya got out of the booth and asked a question that was plaguing him, "Nagato-san you don't want a demonstration of our strength?" The man only expanded his grin before saying, "No need, I seen the way you handled Arkia. The cold brat had it coming." Nagato's smile got toothy, "Go and have your night Naruto no Kyūbi. Nice title by the way, even if it is saying a bit much." His sentence finished, Nagato gestured them to go off as he looked back at who Naruto guessed was Himiko.

Naruto took no time getting out of there, before a blood vessel exploded in his face. Tayuya left as quickly as he did, almost faster, for obvious reasons. When he was outside Naruto stood for a moment, hoping to cool off quickly. Unfortunately for him the sun had just begun to go down and the evening's freezing temperature had not descended.

Tayuya had seen that her companion was desperate to get his mind off of the club's sights. She wondered as to what made the blonde so pure, in the world of ninja. But either way she said, "Aren't we supposed to go shopping, or something?" Naruto turned toward her, his gaze questioning. After a second, with a look of realization, he said, "Oh yeah, we're still in the blood stained clothes. How did no one notice?" He looked at her to answer.

Tayuya crossed her arms, "You didn't notice the people avoiding us as we walked through the town?"

Again Naruto seemed to ponder it for a while, before a realization dawned upon him, "Think about what people thought when you chased me through town."

Both thought for a while before laughing. They then both started to walk around to find a clothing store. They still got looks from the villagers thanks to their apparel. It only gave them harder laughing fits, which only made the villagers more worried by them.

After searching a few streets they found a store they were looking for. It sold both genders of clothing and they all came in a variety of colors. They entered the building, taking in the layout of the store. They made it quite easy to find clothing, a kind of grid directing the position of clothes. Men's on the right, women's on the left, and clothes starting from shirt, formal and informal, to shoes going down the building. Naruto turned to Tayuya, "You can go and get what ever you want. I'll go have a look around." Naruto took to the men's side of the store, while Tayuya took to the women's. Before they got completely separated, and remembering something that Jiraiya had told him, Naruto yelled out, "Don't suck me dry of money like a succubus!"

It was too late when he realized that several shoe boxes, with the pairs of shoes in them, were thrown at his face.

Naruto went to the shirt section, trying to find the night-wear that he had lost because of his devil. He had found it easily, being right in the front, as they were the ultimate in informal. He looked for ones that would match the ones that he had before. His search proved fruitful as he found what he wanted, light blue button-ups. He got the five shirts that he had lost thanks to the blades in his arms. He chose to walk around to find anything else he might want.

In the coat section, his jaw dropped. It was orange, his favorite color, with equal amounts of red and black in a torn cloth like pattern. It was flashy, which is why he loved it. Sure he couldn't wear it on some missions, and he would probably almost never get to wear it, but its sight made him utter one word only, "Wow."

He looked at the tag, 'one size fits all'; by how stretchy the elastic was that could be true. It didn't have a collar that covered his neck like his current one had, but that was fine. He smirked as he took the coat in hand ready to pay for it. Then it struck him, mid-step, Tayuya would kill him, or at least burn the article of clothing, her excuse being that it was flashy.

If he wanted to keep it he would have to buy clothes that would please her. Military knowledge told him that taking an appeasement direction would not solve the problem, only prolong it, but it would allow him to wear the coat and have her happy, in a way. For him a win-win, besides the coat called to him.

He ran around the building's men's apparel section, getting anything stealthy, until he had enough to where he felt she would be pleased. He got up to the front desk, with an ample amount of clothes with him and put it on the counter. He placed his elbow on the counter waiting for Tayuya, until he turned his head to see she was already there. "What took so long? Couldn't find anything that matched?" She said mocking the blonde. She looked at the pile of clothes that Naruto laid on the counter. She eyed each one of the ones that stuck out of the pile. She looked back at him and nodded at the black and green clothes. As the counter girl got down his pile, and uncovered his pajama shirts she gave him a detested look, to which he responded with a grin. That seemed to do the trick, since she just shrugged it off.

Then the counter girl uncovered the coat. Tayuya took notice to it quickly. She turned towards him again, "What the hell?! Just as I think you grew a brain you get this?! Are you an idi-" Naruto covered her mouth with his hand, "Tayuya-chan this isn't a mission coat. It is a downtime coat. It gives me my style. Plus it looks ultra awesome." He stopped to gauge her reaction. When she looked down at his hand, still on her mouth, he quickly removed it, as he learned from the last time.

Naruto gave the biggest grin he could give, hoping to disarm her again. It seemed to work when she said that it was fine. Naruto released a heavy breath from his mouth before taking the coat in his hand. He quickly ripped off his own, revealing he hadn't a shirt under it.

The counter girl turned a light pink color, which Tayuya couldn't help but be angry about. Naruto put on his new coat, loving every part of it. He released a sigh and threw his coat to Tayuya saying, "Here, put it on, it's already night outside."

Naruto paid the counter girl and left, Tayuya following close behind about to protest. Naruto then opened the door and went out, a massive breeze choosing that time to blow into the door. Tayuya shivered like a tremor, reacting to the cold wind, then, without protest she put the coat on. She ran out the door to him, who was already in the streets.

Naruto was inspecting the money in his wallet, finding the funds sufficient enough for a stay at an inn and one small shopping spree, but it wasn't likely that he was going to have another before they found an inn.

So they both walked down the street, looking for an inn to share. Naruto's head turned to Tayuya's side and focused on her bag of clothes. The plastic was thick, so it didn't let on what was in it. The mystery began to plague Naruto. He wondered as to what the redhead would buy. Would it be fashionable like all the girls in Konoha wore, even if they weren't much better than his coat with their red, purple, and yellow shades? Would it be practical, which seemed like the most likely choice but you never know. Or would it be something that was a style all her own?

She was still a mystery to the blonde. He knew close to nothing about her. He probably knew as much about her as the ninjas of Konoha, unless they have a file on her.

Naruto decided to ask since there is, usually, no harm in asking, "What's in the bag Tayuya-chan?" He said, hoping that it would not get her angry at him. She turned toward him and, to his surprise, smirked at him, "Wouldn't you like to know." Naruto raised his eyebrow at that, her response was redundant to the fact he asked her a question, meaning he did want to know.

"Please tell me." he pleaded. Tayuya turned to him, her face showing signs of anger, "It is a secret." She said through her teeth. Naruto immediately dropped the subject, his nerves telling him to shut up.

He turned his head away, hoping that some distraction could come his way, so he could ward off her anger.

Naruto's eyes bulged at the next thing that caught his eyes. A weapons shop. A distraction, that seemed to distract the blonde himself. He grabbed Tayuya's hands as quickly as he could and speed off down to the shop, Tayuya finding it hard to keep up with him.

Naruto rushed through the door, taking a quick assessment of the building's inside. Dropping Tayuya's hand Naruto made beelines to his destinations.

Tayuya stood near the door, hoping the blonde would not drain their funds on flashy weapons. She took her own assessment of the store too, her eyes widening at a sight she couldn't believe.

She ran to the wall that it laid on, her heart beating faster as she came up to it. It was a flute, like the one she used to have. She could have made a high pitched squeal at that moment, if she didn't use all her will not to. She was about to reach for it, before she looked at the price tag. To say the least it made her jaw drop in despair. They wouldn't have that kind of money, not now, since the shopping spree of clothing. Maybe even before that they didn't have enough.

Even so, if Naruto seen her when she seen it, and when she ran all the way up to it, he would ridicule her. She was always supposed to be the detached one. If he seen she had a weakness, he would only exploit it.

Tayuya literally jumped when she heard a voice from behind her, "What is it Tayuya-chan?" She turned around, forcing her face to be plain, at least for her. She made herself seem angry as she talked, "What is what?"

Naruto was carrying several blank scrolls and packs of kunai and shuriken. He gave her a curious look before he looked above her. His eyes focused on the flute she stared at before.

Tayuya held her breath, hoping to god he wouldn't realize that she wanted it. Naruto turned to her again, his face still holding itself curious, "What were you looking at?" Tayuya inwardly sighed, thanking the boy's obliviousness for the first time in her life. She didn't let on that she sighed though. She looked the boy in the eye and said, "Nothing, I was only looking around." Naruto nodded in understanding before saying, "Find anything you want?"

She marveled at the boy, she still couldn't believe how giving he was. She shook her head, answering the blonde's question. Naruto nodded once more before guiding her to the counter. The old man there gave them a small smile, before ringing up the items they just purchased. Naruto only had to hold out his headband, which he thanked to god he didn't scratch across the middle like other nuke-nin.

With the purchased items in hand, they both walked out the store. Naruto yawned; tired from the little chase Tayuya had given him. She yawned to, almost directly after him. They took the next moments searching out an inn.

As soon as they found one they hurried into it. The person at the counter greeted them; Naruto was the only one who responded. After paying the man and Naruto finding out it wouldn't be long before they were broke, they walked to the room they purchased.

Naruto opened the door to see the man had mistaken them for a couple. It wasn't only the one bed; it was the hearts theme the room had, heart shaped head board on the bed, with heart shaped pillows. There were hearts on the walls and on the floor.

Naruto and Tayuya stood in the door way, both sharing the color the hearts were sharing, bright red. Naruto looked to Tayuya, about to speak, when he was interrupted, "Forget it, we'll sleep here. Besides, they might charge extra for switching rooms. Naruto nodded to her, as she got onto the bed.

Naruto walked to the bathroom, curiosity and nature calling him to it, to find that the toilet bowl was also heart shaped. Before he closed the door, he called out to Tayuya on the bed, "Before you ask, yes, it is shaped like a heart."

After a few moments, Naruto returned from his business with the restroom and walked to the middle of the room. He seemed to pick a spot before lying down on the floor. Before sleep even tried to grasp at him, he heard, "You're not sleeping on the floor because of me. Now, hurry up before I change my mind."

Naruto took no time to get on the bed, the ground in the field making him fed up with not sleeping on a bed. He got situated in a position that wouldn't make him burst that earlier blood vessel.

"Good night Tayuya-chan." he said to his companion. When she responded, it came out as unrecognizable babble. He accepted the attempt at it, and fell rightly asleep.

Chapter End

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Chapter 12 done. Remember that if there is any questions you have regarding the story, besides anything that will spoil it, I will try to answer. Didn't get to look it over that much so if there is anything you catch, make sure you tell me.

[1] Yoruyonaka Houmon- Midnight call. It is a strip joint, no need to be creative.

Review. Later.


	13. The Rumble in my Head

Lumenatrum here with chapter 13 of Spiral Tailed.

NOTICE: Alright there is something you need to know before you go on. There is implied Narusaku in the chapter. There is an under-the-table truth about this, and I am not saying that Narusaku is going to happen, resent chapters are killing that possibility. There is truth in relationships especially when starting a new one. Blah blah blah, If you still don't get it, just ask me before you say "what the hell?" Okay?

Disclaimer: I don't see why I have to do this every chapter, or still do it, whatever. I don't own any part of the Naruto series. I am not taking claim of it by doing this. My toil comes from me wanting to do this. I don't make profit at all from this. Get it through your head.

I can't come up with anything to say, so just read the chapter.

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The Rumble in my Head

The darkness of sleep covered Naruto. Dreams did not come, at least not at first. It felt more like he was moving through perpetual darkness. Like floating down a small river, gently on his back. There was no aim or ambition at the time, and it was peace. He just floated, his eyes closed, never having the need to open them, for all he would see is darkness. There were other colors washed into the black around him. There was red, and blue, all moving and stretching and shrinking inside of the black. Something in Naruto said that it was symbolic, but Naruto really didn't make note of it. After all it was a dream, and even it did mean anything, he wouldn't remember it the next morning. It was always like that for him.

Suddenly there was a change in orientation. Naruto felt his back go upright, and then felt a surface gently touch his back and hind end. Naruto opened his eyes, curiosity inducing him to do so. He found that he was no longer in perpetual darkness. Instead, he found himself in a familiar room. It was too familiar, although he felt he only seen it once.

He looked around to see familiar wall decorations. All of them depicted foxes with multiple tails. He looked behind him to find that there was another wall decoration to the back of him. It was a red fox with multiple tails and a shadowy figure with red eyes standing next to it. That sparked Naruto's memory. He was in the throne room in his mind. Not only that but he was sitting on the throne as well. Naruto thought the dream took an odd direction by going here, but dreams hadn't any limitations to speak of. They didn't need him to consciously change what would happen.

So Naruto sat back in the chair, still finding it oddly comfortable. He sat for a while with nothing on his mind, before he started to move uncontrollably. He moved his right hand in a way that allowed him to lean on it with the right of his face. His mouth twisted from a slight bored expression to a toothy smirk. He found himself listing things off that were not related in the slightest to him. "Let's see the pack should have left on to hunt. The females should be tending to the young ones. There have been no alarm soundings in a few hundred years. My family should be in the den," Naruto found himself sighing before he continued on, "where I wish I was. Every thing is at peace and is peacefully quiet."

Naruto heaved another sigh, again without him controlling it. He felt the smirk droop a little without disappearing. He felt his leg shake; some thing he learned was a nervous tendency of boredom and anxiousness. He guessed this was boredom, if his earlier involuntary words were any hint. Again he sighed, it sounding more agitated than the last, and spoke, "Royal sovereign, king of kitsune, a stupid title of propaganda. I sit here day in and day out, never getting to see my family, the only reason being this throne room is more regal." Naruto sighed again, as he was wondering just what was the meaning of the sentence. He remembered hearing the phrase king of kitsune before, but he could not remember where. He continued, his voice below a whisper, "I long to be under Inari-sama [1] again. At least then I wasn't confined to this room. I would be in the open wilderness, delivering Inari-sama's letters and documents to Ameterasu-sama, Susano-sama and the others. Nothing happens now."

Naruto changed positions on the throne; one leg draping over one armrest while the other leg was positioned normally on the ground and his back leaning against the other armrest. Naruto closed his eyes, only to be surprised when he opened them.

As his eyes closed a pulled feeling came over Naruto and as he open them he found he could see himself, sitting on the chair. He, himself, was located only a few feet away, directly facing himself on the throne. He tried to move, finding anything below his neck frozen in place.

He looked around the room finding it boring. He could do nothing, only watch.

He held sympathy for his dream counterpart; he would also be extremely bored just sitting there all day, even if the throne was the most comfortable thing imaginable to him. He wondered as to who was the family he was talking about. He had not an immediate thought, instead he had something he could only call a double thought, two thoughts at once. One was Sakura, who was to be expected from him, while the other one was Tayuya. Both made his face grow red, admittedly though his face was redder with Tayuya.

Suddenly the sliding door across the room slid open. Both Narutos looked into that direction at the same time. The Naruto on the throne had a curious expression, coupled with some anger. Then the same Naruto yelled out, "Who disturbs me!" The real Naruto couldn't help but think how contradictive his counterpart's attitude was to his earlier monologue, when he sounded needy for attention. A figure walked into the room, too far to be made out. It walked slowly to Naruto's position. The one on the throne seemed to pick up in anger, "Answer me when I am speaking! Who are you that disturbs me! What is your business?"

Still the figure kept silent, walking at an extremely casual pace. Even the normal Naruto got mad at the person's insolence. He was a king in this dream, and as such he demanded respect. The figure said nothing until he was halfway to the throne, "Hello. It is good to finally meet you, Kyuubi, king of kitsune."

Naruto looked to his counterpart, his surprise radiating from him. Now he remembered where he heard the phrase, and wanted to slap himself for not remembering it. The figure still walked up, distinctive features of his person starting to show. The man looked at least in his thirties with jet-black hair, a pasty complexion, and a tall body. He seemed to be dressed in worn armor, like he seen many battles. The thing that was the most striking, even at the distance that Naruto was at, was the man's blood red eyes.

The man continued to speak as he walked up, "I am Madara Uchiha. I am on a, pilgrimage, if you don't mind me saying. I have come a long way to find out some things." The man bowed as soon as he was at the foot of the throne. The Naruto on the throne, who the real Naruto now knew was the Kyuubi, looked at the man, his eyes narrowing. He waited a while before saying in aggravation; "Well tell me so you can stop wasting my time."

Madara nodded to the Kyuubi with a slight closed smirk on his face. He then eyed the Kyuubi while saying, "First I wanted to see a nine tailed fox-" "Well here I am! What else, and hurry up!" the Kyuubi interrupted. Madara smirked again, "Right, the second thing I wanted to know is if they really did have the fabled golden white fur." A throat growl was heard from the Kyuubi, "Again! Here I am! Get on with it! I only hold a small respect for humans. And my patience is waning."

Naruto looked at his counter part again. This time his eyes were met with a blurred image of himself. He concentrated hard, the blurred image focusing into a fox, only a little larger than normal one. Its fur was golden white, his nine tails flicking and twitching behind him. Its eyes were blue, with Naruto found odd, since he only seen the fox with red eyes, but then again it was also the size of at least five houses and had blood red fur.

"Out with it." the Kyuubi growled out. Madara smirked, again bowing. "Yes I should just get on with it. I have heard a legend, fable, myth; whatever you may want to call it, that if you anger a kitsune of nine tails, it's fur will diminish to a blood red, while its aura will eat up light, forming darkness around it[2]. I have come to find that out for myself. I have never really been one to believe myths unless I seen them first hand." Madara said to the Kyuubi.

The Kyuubi, and Naruto even, caught something in Madara's words. "What do you mean 'first hand'?" the Kyuubi said, his eye narrowing dangerously. Madara still held his closed smirk as he said, "It means that I want to see your anger first hand." The Kyuubi snarled, suspecting foul play with Madara. "So tell me," the Kyuubi started, "how do you entail to see it 'first hand'?"

Madara lost his smirk, and reached down to his side, which had a pouch hanging at it. Madara opened the pouch, pulling out a scroll. The Kyuubi, who was tensing up as Madara reached down, felt himself relaxing, as he found the scroll hardly a threat. He was far more powerful than that.

Naruto suddenly felt a pull on himself. It started to somehow pain him, and he closed his eyes. The pain stopped suddenly and Naruto opened his eyes. He was staring directly at Madara, from the throne. Naruto guessed that he had fused back with himself, or the Kyuubi, or something like that.

Naruto could not help but start to think about how odd the dream was turning out. Although he could not do anything about it, he had tried to consciously change the dream around, although it never happened.

Madara's voice snapped Naruto out of his thoughts. "I think this body will be enough to rouse your anger." Madara stated monotonously. Madara opened that scroll, revealing a seal on it. He moved his hand over the seal, releasing it. A plume of smoke shot out of the scroll. Naruto now stood up, waiting anxiously for what would adorn his sight when the smoke cleared.

When all the smoke had cleared, Naruto's sight held two different images, one after another. First he seen the mangled body of Sakura, her gut ripped open and her insides and blood pouring out of the open hole. Then his sight was given the image of Tayuya, not at all better off than Sakura. Both images made him feel like he was going to throw up. He felt a pull at his chest, while tears formed around his eyes. Naruto let out a ghastly wail that reverberated around the room. There was no thought; he pounced towards Madara, who held an arrogant smirk. The smirk imbedded itself into Naruto's memory, fueling his anger.

Naruto's pounce seemed to take forever. Madara still held the smirk as Naruto reached the top of his pounce. When Naruto did reach it, he felt that pull again. Before he exited the Kyuubi's body, Naruto seen Madara's red eyes, which he now seen had the Sharingan, change. The pupil and the tomoe on the iris changed shape. Naruto could not describe it, having only seen it for a fraction of a second.

Naruto found himself looking back at the two, separate from the scene before him. He looked at the Kyuubi, to find him with the most dangerous look on its face that Naruto had ever seen. As the Kyuubi went through the air, a claw extended toward Madara, a black swirl washed around him. The swirl over took the Kyuubi, cloaking the fox from view, and as it dissipated, Naruto seen the Kyuubi's golden white fur turn blood red as Madara described.

The Kyuubi spread out its claws out to Madara, ready to dig them into the man's flesh. The man quickly dodged to the left, keeping his face toward the Kyuubi.

Naruto had no idea what happened next. The Kyuubi seemed to fall, as it looked at Madara's eyes. It just fell, limp, to the ground as if it had taken a severe hit to the head. The Kyuubi let out a sound that was like a whine as it fell. It lay on the ground, unmoving, but still alive, since it was still breathing. It then slowly picked up its head, Naruto noticing it struggled to do so, and roared out, "What have you done?! Why can't I move?!" Madara just walked over to the Kyuubi, the smirk back on his face. A small laugh, a single one, left Madara's mouth before he spoke, "There are a couple of other myths I had heard. First, said that the eyes of an Uchiha, if mastered, could control the fabled Yoko no Kyuubi. It seems as though that was right too and, given skill, that humans are actually better compared to spirits, and even their masters."

The Kyuubi roared, Naruto noticing it grew in size a little. "Y-y-you are nothing compared to me! You-you are filth compared to the might of the Yoko no Kyuubi, king of all kitsune! It is by devil's work that you are able to do anything to me! Your cursed blood is what aids you!"

Again Madara let a small laugh out, "King of all kitsune huh? But, if all the Kitsune are gone, you can't be a king." The Kyuubi's eyes held shock, Naruto again noticing that he grew larger again. "Wha-what are you getting at?" the Kyuubi snarled out, obviously anxious of the answer.

Madara looked down on the Kyuubi. "You are now king of nothing. The kitsune are now extinct, you being the last one. And here is your proof." Madara pulled the scroll, which was still in his hand, further open, revealing another seal. The Kyuubi was growing more each second, reaching a height of two men. With another wave of Madara's hand over the seal, and another plume of smoke, the entire room was littered with corpses. All of them were foxes with multiple tails, mangled and bloodied.

The Kyuubi looked down at all the corpses, with the look of pure horror. It closed its eyes as hard as it could, its face twisting by way of violent anger. It grew again, this time reaching its normal height for Naruto. "I wanted to test some thing else out first hand." Madara started, "I heard that if the anger grows enough, the fox would grow with it, as if to house more anger. It seems as though that is also true."

The Kyuubi looked down at Madara, its eyes red with all the anger that it housed. Naruto seen black aura wash over it again before it spoke, "_**Human Filth! You think you would be able to harbor my wrath with your devil tricks but you will see! The Yoko no Kyuubi is someone you will never be able to strike without feeling it a thousand times harder!!!**_" With its sentence finished the Kyuubi brought its paw down onto Madara.

Before Naruto could see the end of the scene a white flash enveloped his vision. He moved wildly around, hoping to find something that was tangible. He felt his hand brush something. It felt like velvet and was as soft, maybe even softer.

Naruto opened his eyes and looked around. He was still in the throne room. But the Kyuubi and Madara were both gone. He felt himself, finding he hadn't any features that were like a fox. Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. He remembered it was only a dream. But it got so real, especially when Naruto seen the bodies.

Naruto slowed his breath, which he seemed to be out of.

Then a loud blunt sound resounded from Naruto's front. The sound was reminiscent of a bang, as if something was hitting hard on metal, and wasn't metal itself. Naruto heard it again, still from his front, as if behind the door across the room.

Naruto was curious as to what was making that noise, but fear was holding him back. He had no idea what was happening, everything seemed all too real for this to be a dream. He sat back in the chair, which seemed to be less inviting now. It was lumpy and hard now, as if the velvet that was there a second ago was replaced by sacks of potatoes.

In the end curiosity got the better of him, even if his hind had a part in him getting up. He walked to the sliding door on the other side of the room. The sound kept on going on, echoing through the massive halls and rooms of Naruto's mind. Naruto made it to the sliding door and pulled it open. Immediately he focused on the alcove directly across the meeting room from his position.

He heard it again, the sounds coming quicker now. He saw a dark red light coming from that iron door in the west of the alcove. He walked to the door, not really planning anything. He got closer and closer until he was right at the face of the door. The sounds were coming at least three each second now. And a voice was joined by it too. The voice was like that of the Kyuubi's, however impossible that was, but deeper, colder, raspier, and held more hate.

"_**Madara! Madara!! Madara!!!"**_ the voice behind the door repeated over and over. Naruto unconsciously reached his hand over to the face of the door and touched it.

* * *

Naruto woke up in a sweat, breathing hard, and fast. He brought his hand to his head, it feeling as if it was going to violently crack any second. He wanted to scream bloody murder, and was about to before he became aware of Tayuya's presence next to him. He stuffed down the scream to a whimper, not wanting to yell in front of her. He stuffed it all down, not wanting her to see him as he was.

Naruto started to slow his breathing and regulate it. He calmed himself and stopped shivering, which he only just found out he was doing. He closed his eyes, keeping his breathing regular. When he felt he was better he looked over to Tayuya's laying form. She didn't seemed to bothered by him, in fact she was peacefully asleep, oblivious to his plight. He was glad at that, she seemed like the one to ridicule nightmares.

He was considering to go back to sleep, but discarded it immediately. He didn't want more dreams like that. So he got up from the bed and made his way to the bathroom. It was still night outside, so he would have to find something to do while he waited.

After getting out of the bathroom, Naruto opened a window and got on to the sill. He turned from the sill and looked up to the roof, it not being to far. He jumped up and maneuvered himself on to the roof.

The sky was dark, with a little light seen from the horizon. If anything there would be an hour before dawn was upon them.

Naruto looked up in the sky, seeing all the stars and such twinkling. He heaved a tired sigh. He sat on the roof contemplating how he would pass the time. Nothing was open in the morning, except for brothels, and he would be damned if he went there. He wasn't Jiraiya, and he hoped he would never be.

"Hey boy." Naruto heard from behind him, in a kind of speak of the devil way. Naruto turned quickly, getting into a fighting stance. He was right, it was Jiraiya, and Naruto had a guess as to why he was here.

Without speaking he summoned a clone and reached out his hand. The two started to make the Rasengan, until Jiraiya held out his hand in front of his, signifying for the blonde to stop. Naruto's eyes questioned what was happening, but dissipated the jutsu still. He kept the clone around, in case of trickery.

"What do you want?" Naruto said, his voice kind of stressed. Jiraiya just looked at Naruto with his lecherous grin. "Nothing my boy, except maybe researching for my latest novel. Here tell me what you think. Although it has the premise is the cliché theme of boy meets girl. A young man is traveling, to find himself as all he once knew was destroyed. Along his travels he meets a wild girl, with hair like flames. The girl has nowhere to go and asks the young man if she could travel with him. The man is reluctant because of his past and what it entailed, but gives in since at first sight he is infatuated with the girl. From there they have miscellaneous adventures, including having part in the election of a land's king. And all the while the young man and the girl slowly fall for each other. In fact from their very first meeting you can tell of the spark between them." Jiraiya laughed in his lecherous way before going on, "And of course there are many steamy scenes between them. Ah, if only my inspirers were like the two characters."

Naruto was actually really listening to the man, which is something he hardly did, even when training. The man's description of his latest idea would have fallen on deaf ears if Naruto wasn't bored. That and the fact he himself was a pervert in a fraction of a degree to the toad hermit. And having actually listened Naruto caught on to some things, that were actually painfully obvious. "You f**king dirt old bastard!" he yelled out, unconsciously using his companions foul language. He stood giving a death glare to the man, his teeth clenched quite comically. He pointed a finger at the toad hermit, "You have been f**king spying on Tayuya and me! What the hell a**hole? The hot springs no longer 'hot' enough for you?"

Naruto stood still glaring the man down, as the other just stood there and smiled. The sleeping birds in the area flew away when Naruto yelled, "And what the f**k is this about a 'spark'?

"Quiet down. Man, you still are loud enough to wake the dead." Jiraiya said with a sigh. The man walked up to the boy and patted him on the shoulder, the boy still glaring the man down, even if he had to look up at him. The man still held his grin, even when he whispered down at the boy's ear and his voice went dangerous, "You better respect your elders boy."

Naruto didn't flinch at Jiraiya's half threat. Instead his took the offensive. "Ero-sennin, I respect those who only respect me. You keep on treating me as if I am a kid! You have been watching us, and I bet all the money in my wallet, which I bet you know the amount of, that you have also kept bandits at bay from us. Not one person has ever came up to us with malicious intentions. Something I found odd, until now."

Jiraiya's face was a little short of shocked that the kid had thought out that much, and got it right, without using up that much time to think about it. He went to pat Naruto on the head, but stopped instead he crouched down to Naruto's size and said, "Yeah you're growing alright. You're growing so much," Jiraiya paused and brushed away a faux tear of happiness, "I don't think it will be long until you're deflowered."

Naruto was frozen with shock at Jiraiya's comment. His mouth hung as open as it could get, his eyes were going unfocused, and his body stiffened to rival metal in sturdiness. His mind was going as fast as it could to contemplate all the meanings that Jiraiya could have meant besides the one that came to mind. Although his mind raced in vain as Naruto couldn't think up any other meaning that was plausible.

"Wha-" Naruto yelled out, that little bit that came out scaring all the nocturnal animals in the town away. Luckily for everyone's good night sleep, Jiraiya was able to anticipate it, and cover the blonde's mouth in time. The toad sage kept his hand at Naruto's mouth until the blonde settled down, which took close to thirty minutes.

Finally with Naruto calmed down, the blonde said between his teeth, "Are you here only to mess with me?" Jiraiya shook his head, his expression going solemn. He sat down in front to the blonde, instructing the other to do the same. Jiraiya took some time before talking to the boy, and when he did his voice was also solemn, "I seen the way you were tonight. Now, I know nightmares are a usual thing that comes with life. But that wasn't the case with this; you were saying one name while you were asleep, that name being Madara. From what I believe, under normal circumstances that name should not have made its way to you, much less make you have a nightmare about it. I want you to tell me what happened."

Naruto went on to describe the dream, from beginning, middle, and end. He left out the parts about Sakura and Tayuya, since he knew Jiraiya would twist it into something for his book. Having told Jiraiya the dream Naruto had to describe his mindscape to him and what was there. Jiraiya nodded at the end of it and got lost in thought.

Naruto waited nervously for Jiraiya's idea on what happened, hoping that he could go back to sleep without nightmares. The waiting dragged on until the sun started to rise. It was a nice sight, and Naruto almost wished Tayuya was up to see it with him, but that would mean she would have to know about the dream.

He would have woken up by now if it were not for the dream. Jiraiya seemed to notice the sun rise too, and turned to Naruto. "I'll think this over, meanwhile you need to get down to your room. Your hell fire companion wakes up about this time." with that said Jiraiya disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving Naruto there.

The blonde got to his feet and made it to the end of the roof. Without looking down, he jumped into the window below, making it into his room.

By luck, right at that time Tayuya got up and stretched out. She turned to her side of the bed before she realized he was not there. She turned her head around frantically before her eyes rested on Naruto, neat the window. The blonde innocently waved a greeting to her and said, "Looking for something?"

Tayuya scowled at him and got up from the bed, "No, just forgot you woke up before me. Wipe that smile off your face." Naruto did, although mostly out of irritation that she was not a morning person. She held her irritation to anyone who smiled at her in the morning, recently that being mostly Naruto, much to his displeasure.

Tayuya passed Naruto on the way to the bathroom. The blonde said, "Grouchy pants." as she passed. In response she punched him in the side of the ribs and went on walking. Naruto clutched the side that she at and looked toward her departing form going in the bathroom. He heard a laugh out the window and quickly looked out of it.

There on the roof of the building across from Naruto sat Jiraiya, laughing. Naruto growled a little before running into the room toward his weapon pouch. He was silently cursing the man as he pulled out a kunai from the pouch. If Jiraiya was half as good as he claimed to be, he would know that right now was time for stealth, not conspicuous laughing. He ran back to the window, kunai in hand. He stopped at the foot of the window and quickly through the knife with accuracy. If Jiraiya didn't scramble out of the way, the kunai would have planted into his skull.

Just then the door to the bathroom opened and Naruto straightened up. Tayuya walked out, still slightly irritated. She turned to Naruto and said, "So we have an hour to burn?" Naruto nodded in confirmation. They both sighed in unison. There was nothing to do in their room, and without money it was unlikely that they would find a way to pass the time outside of it.

Naruto then looked to the bathroom. "I guess I will take a shower." he said to Tayuya. He started to walk to the bathroom before Tayuya cut him off. "The way _you_ take a shower? No, I will go first. I don't like cold showers." With the words finished from her mouth, she reopened the door to the bathroom and departed into it.

Naruto was irritated at that. Until she got out there was nothing to do. He can't even get dressed, that would defeat the purpose of the shower. The sound of rushing water met his ears. He sighed once again. Then a realization dawned upon him, he could now sneak a peek at Tayuya's clothes. He over turned everything in the room, not finding the bag anywhere. Then something else dawned on him, he remembered seeing the bag in the bathroom. How it got in there he didn't know, but it had really screwed up his plan.

* * *

The hall outside the hokage's office was bustling with people. All of them were called there earlier, yesterday to be factual. But a small diversion had stopped it from happening immediately. The small diversion grew worse and had to be postponed until that morning, since the leader, who was retrieving one of their own, had to be hospitalized for a day. It seemed that with out her favorite punching bag Sakura's anger could be thrown anywhere.

A voice behind the door called them in, and they entered one by one until Sakura and Shikamaru were left. Shikamaru could not enter until Sakura entered in case she was planning on not coming again. Meanwhile, Sakura chose not to enter with Shikamaru behind her, in case he planned some kind of redemption for the bandages on his head. Shikamaru eyed Sakura, his eyes narrowing every other second.

Finally Tsunade's voice called from the room and caused Sakura to go in there out of fear. Shikamaru went in with his usual liveliness, a slug's pace. Even that was slightly hampered, the most likely cause the head injury.

Shikamaru closed the door behind him and situated himself in the middle of the group. Everyone in the room was standing at attention, Choji being the only one moving, who was eating a bag of chips. Tsunade sat at the table, as she was supposed to, with Shizune at her right and Kakashi to her left. There was no sound in the room at all and she let the silence sink in to the genin and one chuunin before her.

"Now that everyone is here," Tsunade took this moment to look at Sakura, who felt diminished in size under the hokage's gaze, "I would like to announce that you will now be escorted by Kakashi, who we know is more trust worthy." Kakashi raised his hand as greeting when his name was mentioned. Tsunade then continued, "You will be continuing your earlier mission of retrieval, for those who need it repeated: You are to catch Uzumaki Naruto, and bring him back to Konoha. That would be it, and you would be dismissed now if I didn't suspect a little uneasiness in your group." Tsunade again looked at Sakura, who felt even smaller. Tsunade sighed and addressed the whole group, "From the report that was received from Shikamaru, you have been… revealed that there is… something that resides in Naruto. I don't know what to s-"

"What we heard does not matter." Choji interrupted. Although afterward he had a small fear of how the hokage would react. To his fortune she only smiled at him, a genuine one. "Thank you Choji," She began, but unfortunately not all are able to put such things behind them. And it is that fact that makes me think that one or more of the others is thinking such away."

Tsunade again addressed the group, "If there is one of you who can't sit by and do this because of what Naruto is, step forward." No one moved from their position in the room, no one even shifted their weight. Contrary to what would have been thought, Tsunade's eyebrows arched at a sharp angle. She scowled at the crowd, picking at each one's eyes. "I would not have asked if I didn't suspect _one_ of you do be at such a position. Now that _one_ person, if you would please step forward, I won't have to put deceit to official on your record." Still no one stepped forward. Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. She barred her teeth as she looked at the one she suspected, Sakura.

"Sakura, if you will, step forward, _now_." Tsunade said in a dangerous voice. Sakura slowly stepped to the foot of the desk. Tsunade looked directly at the girl from her chair, her face menacing. "If I can say something before you make your accusations." Sakura pleaded before the hokage. Tsunade nodded for her to continue. "I-its not about the ky-…the demon, or anything like that. It is about an entirely different-" Sakura started before Tsunade cut her off. "If it is truly not about the demon," she began, "then why could you not say the name of it? Do you fear the demon Sakura?" The girl made a slight nod.

"Fear gives birth to many things. One of those being an avoidance of what you fear. Then there is hate. Is it either of those two Sakura?" Tsunade asked Sakura. The girl shook her head, dismissing the accusation. "No, it is s-" Sakura again started only to be interrupted. "Sasuke," Tsunade stated, "Isn't it? You're still mad at him aren't you?"

"No, that got resolved the first day after speaking with Naruto." Sakura said, her voice going quieter as she said it. Tsunade sighed, "Then what is it?"

"I…I can't say. Not in front of everyone." Sakura said, her voice almost entirely diminished. It was only because of her proximity that allowed her to hear and Tsunade said, "Why can't you say it in front of everyone?" Sakura's voice was still diminished as she said, "It's a private matter."

Tsunade eyed Sakura for a moment before dismissing the others, Kakashi and Shizune included.

With everyone gone Tsunade looked back at Sakura and said, "Now tell me."

* * *

"How many of you want to bet that it is her time of the month?" Kiba said in a plain tone. Ino snuck up behind him and stuck him in the head. Kiba placed his hands over the spot she struck and said, "Dammit not you too!" His outburst only caused him more pain.

The group was waiting outside the building, talking amongst themselves. Ino stood over Kiba's pounded body and said, "Damn what ever they are talking about up there, I bet the Yamanaka account that it is juicy. And I am missing it. Can anybody around here hear through glass or something?" Ino stood with her face fixed on to the few stories and glass that separated her and what she felt was the best thing she would ever hear.

Suddenly the window opened and Tsunade popped out the window and yelled, "Kakashi! Get up here!"

* * *

Naruto turned off the partly warm water. The water that had shot out of the shower head diminished to a trickle. He looked around him to find that the bathroom was not even in a fraction obscured by the steam that came from his shower. Yet when Tayuya had came out earlier there had been enough steam inside to make the sky cloudy. He wanted to call her a hypocrite, but he was learning, slowly but surely.

He pulled back the thin plastic that had separated him from the rest of the bathroom. He really didn't get why the shower curtain was there, it was as clear as window glass. It would hide nothing if someone had come in accidentally.

He grabbed the towel from the rack, it being damp while also being the driest one on the rack. Tayuya had used all the towels to dry off. Naruto guessed it had something to do with the fact that he was in there with her, but there were still five there. It was a bit excessive.

He wrapped the towel around him, just at the waist and ran a second one quickly through his hair to dry it. He then unceremoniously threw the towel to the floor. For the sake of speed he dried himself off in a hurry and put on the clothes that he had to put in the room. Tayuya can kick him out to dress, but if he did that he bet that there would be a shiny new bruise on his head at the end of it.

He had brought his stealthy clothes with him to put on, but then a thought came to him. They were leaving in broad daylight, to walk through an empty field, save for the occasional shrub, and he was going to wear black. Not only that but it would be incredibiliy hot because of the sun, which would be multiplied thanks to the dark clothes he was about to wear. The popular phrase, f**k that, ran a lap in his head.

He put the towel back on his waist and opened the door a crack. "Tayuya-chan. Tayuya-chan!"he said to his companion. A tired, "What?" answered his calls. He peeked through the crack to find her while he said, "Can you get me one of my net shirts?" A sigh was heard behind the door, "Why not get it yourself? Naruto stood for while, contemplating why he was doing this and then said, "Are you decent?" "Oh yeah I have been sitting here for the last five minutes in the nude." she said sarcastically.

Naruto opened the door quickly and got his clothes, which were across the room, without a second passing and without his towel falling beneath his ankles. He smiled at his speed and knew that Tayuya was awestruck from it. He turned to go back to the bathroom, at the same blinding speed, when he caught sight of Tayuya's clothes.

She had orange on. To be specific they were orange shorts, but orange nonetheless. Her torso was covered by a black shirt and with the entire wardrobe on it reminded Naruto of13something. There was only one item missing from it, Naruto not able to figure it out, and she would be wearing clothes so close to someone he knew. But he just couldn't place it.

Mind like a trap, that sentence seemed to not have any hold here.

Naruto was about to say something when a draft blew through the open window. Him not having a shirt on, and having lack of underwear, an unpleasant shiver ran through him to the bone. He quickly took his clothes and ran into the bathroom. In a moment's time, he came back out of the room, fully dressed, and ready to say what he wanted to Tayuya.

Unfortunately for him, he got too distracted to remember. He wondered what the hell was going on, but put it passed him.

Since Tayuya was wearing orange, he had chosen to wear his orange pants while having his net shirt on. All together it was becoming a patent for him as a missing nin.

And that was when he noticed it. "Why the f**k do we match?" he asked. Tayuya looked up at him, then down at her clothes and then said, "Well what do ya f**king know."She looked back up at him and said, "I got these to match the coat you gave me. It isn't my fault we look like we match."

Naruto though a little on what she said and then said, "But I gave you the coat after you bought your clothes and I got my new one. If any thing I bet you-"

"Time to go." Tayuya said to him as she looked up at the clock, which was in their room. In its heart shaped gloriousness it read 5:45. And the sun rose at five o' clock.

It would take at least fifteen minutes to get to the western gate. That would be if they walked, but Tayuya never seemed to want to run anywhere. "Alright," Naruto said as he picked up his pack. He grabbed his newly filled weapons pouch and placed it in position on his back. "I'm ready." He said to his partner.

Tayuya got off the bed and walked with Naruto to the door. The blonde opened the door and started to walk through. Tayuya struck him over the head before he had got his foot to the thresh-hold. "A**hole ever heard of 'ladies first'?" Tayuya told him as she walked through the door. Naruto sighed as he followed her out.

Chapter End

* * *

Some explanations

[1]- Inari- Japanese god of rice. Said to have employed Kitsune to send messages.

[2]- Total crap made up by me. If you were about to tell me 'that isn't part of any myth I heard', I just said my end.

For those who didn't read the notice before the chapter, if you are wondering "why is he thinking about Sakura?". I am subtly making a point there. If you caught it good for you, if you didn't, ask. There that is it. I am not spoiling the victory for the ones who got it, by answering it here.

If you are mad because the chapter didn't go to the mission, have a little pacience. Really just wait. It is Christmas break for me so the updates should go faster.

Now, review. With that said, later.


	14. The Quarry of Reminiscing

This marks chapter 14 of Spiral Tailed.

To tell the truth, this is my least favorite chapter. For one it is another chapter where it is nothing but getting there. Next chapter will be where I want to get to with the Nagato mission, so bear with me here. If you don't like it, I am right there with you. Promise, next chapter something happens.

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to it creator, not me. This is only a nonprofit fan work.

* * *

The Quarry of Reminiscing

The west gate of the village stood unceremoniously at their backs. Unlike that of Konoha's gate, this one had only two standing post to signal the village's end. There weren't any doors to close nor were there any sentries at the gate. He didn't know why, but Naruto found the non-show-off-y style of it all very pleasing. There weren't any large walls at either end of the gate, separating the view of the field that surrounded them. All that was there was two lonesome posts that had nothing to do but stand there.

While her companion watched the gate, which she found to be odd since there was a slight admiration in his eyes, Tayuya was fuming from their client's tardiness. The man had said an hour after dawn, to meet him at the western gate. They arrived at the preset time, for the client to not appear, even twenty minutes after arriving. What more, her companion was now occupied with other things at the moment, which meant that time would pass only slower.

"Naruto, you know you could at least try to talk." she said, with slight desperation, too desperate to try to cover it up. The blonde swiftly turned to meet his companions face. "What did you just say?" Naruto asked back in surprise. Tayuya cocked an eyebrow at the way her companion had acted and said, "You could try to talk, you know that?" she said. Naruto shook his head and said, "Not that." Tayuya cocked her eyebrow more and started to rub her head. "What else did I say?" she asked him, her anger getting a slight rise out of not saying it out right.

"Did you just call me Naruto?" he asked her. She was near the explosion point of her anger, but still said as calmly as she could, "That is your name, isn't it?" "Yeah it is," Naruto started. Tayuya readied her hands to strangle him before he continued. "But you never refer to me by it. If you talk to me you usually call me s**thead or something like that. That is _if_ you are talking to me. You usually try to keep mum."

Tayuya said nothing to counteract that; it was the truth. She looked at Naruto for a second, still silent. "Now see, that is what I am talking about, you don't talk that often." Naruto said to her. Tayuya shook her head, "Listen, I didn't want to start some damned argument over my speech habits! All that I wanted to do was start some conversation. Besides, if you want me to call you sh-" Naruto reached his hands straight out, waving his palms at her to interrupt her, "No, no, no, no. I like the change." He gave her his shining grin, "I hope you keep it up Tayuya-chan." Tayuya looked away from him, "First name basis from now on?" Naruto smiled at her nodding, "That would be nice Tayuya-chan."

She turned her head down and sighed, "Fine." Naruto nodded to her again, and looked around, his sights landing on the posts. Tayuya brought her hand to her head; she thought he was going to start going into a daze again. Then Naruto grabbed her free hand. Stricken with surprise, Tayuya flailed around cursing at Naruto. "What the f**k s**thea- Naruto!"

The blonde turned to her with a grin, "I think it might be better to sit, don't you think so Tayuya-chan?" She stopped flailing around, but didn't start moving either, making Naruto drag her in a way. Even after all the time spent with him she was still dumbstruck each time he was considerate. With a sigh escaping, Tayuya started to walk with Naruto to the posts. Even if she was complying it didn't stop her from looking at Naruto and saying, "We could easily sit on the ground we stand on." Naruto turned his head to her while still walking, "Tayuya-chan, it is common knowledge that sitting with your back to something is more comfortable than sitting without."

The two came upon one of the posts and started to sit. When they turned to sit down, they meet with resistance, finding that their hands were still locked with each other. Both gave off a slight blush as they released hands to sit. When they got situated, Tayuya gave off a slight content sigh. Naruto looked at her with a grin, "Comfortable?" he asked. Tayuya took it as him mocking her and shot him a glare, "What is that supposed to mean?" Contrary to what Tayuya thought would happen, Naruto's grin grew. He looked at her and said, "It means exactly what it means. Are you comfortable?" Tayuya looked the other way and mumbled, "Right." She turned back to him, meeting him in the eyes, and asked, "What makes you so… so… thoughtful?"

She was getting pissed off at not knowing why he was the way he was. She knew about the Kyuubi and how it made Naruto the black sheep in his village. She knew that he was a lonely person, his apartment, and lack of neighbors back at Konoha, the clue. She even got slight hints of his treatment as she looked in his eyes. What she didn't know was why he was such a happy-go-lucky person. She had a life that consisted of being lonely, hungry, painful meetings with every type of person imaginable. That is how life was for her as she was without a home at an early age, it gave her an easy sympathy for him, but he didn't need that.

Naruto may have had a home, but he didn't seem much better off. A million and one things could have happened to him, all horrible and traumatizing, and he was the happiest person she had ever met. She didn't know why he was, nor would he say why. Today though she vowed to make him tell.

Naruto seemed to ponder it for a second and turned to her, "Well, why are you the way you are?" Tayuya's eyebrows twitched as her eyes narrowed. "What kind of response is that?" she said in aggravation. Naruto cocked his eyebrow inquisitively and said, "You tell me first, and I will tell you." Tayuya's eyes held a bit of distain as she started, "Well first of all, I can sum it up by saying life didn't had me a gift basket." The last part of her sentence was marked with a rise in volume in her voice. "I was on my own from almost the start, my mom and dad abandoning me for no apparent reason. I had to take to the streets, homeless, and hungry. I met people who would use me to do their bidding, which included thievery and mugging. When I had food or money, the people who helped me get it would take it away, without giving me reason. I ran away from several crime syndicates before I was six, mostly because the people there were getting handsy. I only struck a little luck by the time I was ten, which was when Orochimaru found me. He took me in and kept me safe from all others. But even then, I had to fend for myself."

"All of that is the reason that I am angry. I wasn't the one to get a normal life." Tayuya finished, her throat slightly sore from raising her voice at times. Naruto seemed to look at her, with concerned eyes. He then tried to comfort her, giving her a small back rub. Although she did nothing to protest, she did say, "You don't have to, I sorted this out a while ago." She didn't look at him, but was sure that a smile came on to his face. "You're right, I don't have to, but I want to."

Tayuya sighed, "There you go. Well I told you my reason, what's yours?"

Naruto and Tayuya heard a voice to their front, "Kind of guessed you two were a couple. Himiko owes me some money." They both turned their heads to the man who was talking to them. Nagato stood there, a bit off from where they sat, his face slightly pained, looking down at both of them. He had a giant pack on, with a pickax fitted on the side of it. He had a straw sun hat on his head, shielding his eyes from the sun. "Do you two need a moment?"

Naruto and Tayuya looked at each other, to find they were close enough to kiss and parted swiftly. Naruto got onto his feet, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. Tayuya stood off, close enough to still be connected to Naruto if someone was to pass by, but far enough to not be connected in that way. Nagato looked at both of them, needing to turn his head to do so, and said, "You two even match!" Naruto scratched his head again and said, "It just happened like that this morning, I suppose."

"Why are you late?" Tayuya asked, wanting the two to get off the subject. Nagato turned his head to her, and grinned in a stupid way. "Hangover." Came the one word answer. "Got a little carried away with Himiko last night. Over did it with the drinking, and kind of went out like a light. The girl took everything in my wallet when I passed out. Then she took me home, the sweet little thing." Naruto wanted to laugh at that, but repressed it wanting to be seen professional. The man disgusted Tayuya, since the man was obviously a drunk, and this seemed to happen before.

"Well," Nagato started, "we should be heading out. The faster we get there, the more I will be able to mine." Nagato then walk west to the mine, with Naruto and Tayuya close behind.

They walked in silence for the most part, not making idle conversation, since Nagato silenced everything on the grounds that it made his hangover headache worse. It made things bad for Naruto, since he was starting to get bored. He did anything he could to try and preoccupy himself. He counted the shrubbery as he passed them, but the field started to get scarce and things got few and far between. He looked up at the clouds to see if he could see shapes, to find a cloudless sky. Naruto's face drooped into a massive frown. He could not go long without doing something and if he did, it would be extremely psychologically painful for him.

As soon as he felt ready to yell in frustration, a wind blew from the north, carrying the scent of kicked up dirt. Both Naruto and Tayuya looked to the north, to find a small dust cloud. "Nagato-san," Naruto started, "I think your tormentors are coming." Nagato looked to the north to see the dust cloud. He turned to Naruto and asked, "You think its them?" Naruto gave a slow nod. He reached into his pouch to give a couple of kunai to Tayuya. "You ready?" Naruto asked with concern in his voice. He expected her to immediately dismiss his question, but he found her to be unsure. Without waiting for the answer, he turned to the north and told her to stay and protect Nagato. She immediately rejected Naruto's command.

"I am not going to stand by and play a guard. I have been waiting to fight for a long time." She responded to his order. She then ran past him, kunai ready in both hands. She wasn't one to admit weakness, even if it meant that she would end up getting injured. She may have been fully healed, but she was always the genjutsu user in the sound four, she wasn't up for frontal battle.

While she was running, Naruto rushed passed her, waving at her while saying, "Hi Tayuya-chan." He crossed his arms, Tsume Akuma popping into existence when he did and he picked up speed. Tayuya commented in her mind that it seemed that was his go-to tactic, rushing headlong into danger.

Naruto got several yards away from the dust cloud, before finding out the dust cloud contained bandits not ninja. Naruto thought of two possibilities, one, the bandits were the ones who scared off Nagato, or two, the bandits had normal bandit intentions and Jiraiya wasn't playing protector anymore. He hoped it was both, and then the mission was half way done.

There were three men; the one in the middle, seeming to lead, was a powerful looking man, who carried bladed knuckles on his hands. To the left of the leader was a lanky man, seeming to be weak, with a simple katana in his hand. Then the last on the right was a normally proportioned man, who was a foot back from the normal group and was covered by a large cloak from his shoulders to his ankles. Each of them ran stupidly to Naruto, who rushed them back.

Naruto jumped when he was still a couple yards away, to land on the big man's chest. Naruto kicked off with kouasshuku heki, shooting the man back several feet. When Naruto landed, instead of getting shocked silence, he heard arrogant laughing, coming from the lanky man. The man grinned at Naruto and said, "A kick? Is that the first blow you land? Should have killed the idiot when you had the chance." The big guy on the ground seemed to choke on his own voice as he spoke from his position lying on the ground. "Boss I'm sorry I was over excited." The big man then coughed up blood and after lay unconscious. The lanky man seemed shocked that his associate was taken down. He turned to Naruto, pulling his katana in the air and charged. Naruto dodged the first few slices to play with the man, and then stopped the blades with Tsume Akuma. As he was about to finish the man with his claws, a kunai became lodged in the man's head. The man fell limp to the ground as a corpse. Naruto looked in the direction the kunai was thrown to find Tayuya. She stood there plain faced and said to Naruto, "I told you I wasn't going to stand by. You were going to finish these guys without me." Her face turned to anger with her last sentence. Naruto scratched the back of his head and gave his apology before he turned to the last one.

The man stood in a battle stance, ready for Naruto. Within a second, Naruto was in front of the last man and kneed him in the gut. Naruto spin kicked the man, shooting off kouasshuku heki when it connected. The man flew back from the force and landed on the bigger man. To Naruto's surprise, the man got up and dusted himself off. He looked straight at Naruto and smirked. Naruto was about to go for the man again, before the man disappeared suddenly in smoke. The big man he was standing on top of gone as well.

Naruto looked to his companion and said, "I guess that one was a ninja." Tayuya gave him a look and said sarcastically, "Yeah, I guess." Tayuya walked away with Naruto following behind trying to defend his mistake.

When they got to him, Nagato asked if everything was all right, and Naruto told him about the one ninja. Nagato tensed up in shock, "You mean there was a ninja?" Naruto and Tayuya nodded. Nagato seemed to be worried for a second, before he turned to Naruto. "You can take care of them, right?" Naruto nodded to Nagato, clenching his hand into a fist in front of is face, while he said, "They will wish that they hadn't thought of attacking us." Nagato seemed to have happier spirits and began walking west again.

* * *

It took them half of the day to reach the quarry. Naruto was surprised to find a hole in the ground reminiscent of a canyon in the middle of the field. If he didn't see a series of ramps around the edge of the quarry he would have thought that one would have to jump off the edge to reach the bottom.

Nagato was fiercely tired when they got there and told them to stop. He took off his pack and went through it. He brought out a big package, along with supplies for building a fire. He took the next couple of minutes building the place around the fire, along with a rotisserie stick above it. Nagato opened the package revealing a big slab of meat, and tied it to the stick. Nagato was about to try to start the fire when a burst of flame shot up from the dry wood.

Nagato tried to find the source of the flame, finding Naruto standing next to him with a finger pointed at the fire. "What?" the old man asked, thinking that Naruto was pointing at the fire since it lit up abruptly like that. Naruto looked at Nagato and smiled, "Nothing, just lighting the fire."

Naruto got up and walked around the fire to Tayuya's position, directly across from where he was. He sat about two feet away from her, but that didn't stop Nagato from tormenting them. "I don't have a tent to put you guys in, so spare me from the romance." Nagato said monotonously. Both moved slightly away from each other, their faces growing red. "Listen Nagato-san. We aren't like that, we're just friends." Naruto tried to defend. Nagato chuckled dryly and said, "And friends give each other backrubs while keeping space between them to the absolute minimum?" Nagato seemed to have lost his headache.

Naruto tried to defend that without having to explain his and Tayuya's screwed up lives. "I…uh… was comforting her, she… hasn't had a good life." Naruto said as if he was treading on a tightrope. He had looked to Tayuya to see if she was angry with him now, only to see her look between him and Nagato disinterestedly. Naruto let out a breath he had found he was holding. He turned to Nagato to see the man also disinterested in what Naruto was saying. Although it pissed him off, he let it drop; he didn't want to reflect on anything now.

Naruto laid on his back to see the empty sky as Nagato cooked the meat and Tayuya sat looking at the fire. Nobody chose to speak, since they were using the time to rest. What was midday turned to twilight since Nagato refused to mine until he was properly fed. When they were done with the meat Nagato heaved up his pickax, put up his pack and turned to them. "Well we should get going, around midnight I will stop for the day. I should get a good haul in at least a couple of days. Two or three." he said to Naruto and Tayuya. He walked around the perimeter of the quarry until he found one of the ramps.

Naruto looked around as they walked down into the quarry. From the campfire there was not much to see except what he could, which were ramps and caves littered around it. With almost nothing hidden by the ramps as they descended, Naruto got the full view. It was at least a mile in diameter, even if it shape was oblong. The bottom was covered in shadow from the setting sun, but even though Naruto seen the glitter of semi-precious metals and gems. Every so often as they walked down the ramp, they would pass a cave. Nagato would walk right past without paying any mind. Naruto guessed that Nagato had a certain destination in his mind.

"You guys dug a pretty hole in the ground." Tayuya said sarcastically. Nagato gave a hearty laugh and swiveled his torso to address them while still walking. "You never heard of this place, huh." He stated. He turned back in place and started to talk again, "It just means you are foreign to our country. Back when everybody was mining around here, these mines were famous. But that is to say, only in our country. The government decided to keep quiet about them, and further develop our economy. They underestimated the quarry's haul. We all did."

Nagato looked around and let out a chuckle. "You see; these mines had not just some precious metal, or some gems. They are filled with just about every minable material. From junk ore to gems and precious metals." Nagato gave a hearty laugh and continued, "There was this one vein, it had so many different colored gems in it, it had gotten this place nicknamed the rainbow quarry."

When Nagato was finished he left an awed Naruto and half-interested Tayuya. Nagato then chuckled again, "Of course that means that the metals aren't pure, and the ones that are, are few and far between. That is why I am mining gems, and why the mine goes down so far. If there was a seeming stop in the vein then the mines would be as empty as they are now, with the exception of a few kind of like me. Then the vein would be rediscovered and every one would flock back here, digging down and down. We would not be able to move as freely as we are if people found out that the vein was rediscovered. That is why I don't spread word of the vein, I get it all to myself."

Tayuya rolled her eyes at the man's greed; he was like so many others she met in her life. Nagato seemed to pick up in step as he walked down the ramps. He chuckled to himself as he walked. She turned to Naruto, who was walking with a smile on his face. Tayuya guessed it was because of all the riches that dangled in his face around here. She turned back and sighed, maybe not even the purest had a defense against greed.

"Tayuya-chan, what is your favorite color?" She heard from Naruto's direction. He had gotten a bit closer to her and laid questioning eyes on her own. Both the question and his gaze caught her off guard, causing her to stutter out, "W-w-what?" Naruto's mouth curved to a grin and he repeated his earlier question. "What is your favorite color?"

"Why do you need to know?" She asked him back. Naruto responded with a smile on his face and said, "I just wanted to know." Nagato, who seemed to be slightly listening, said, "You don't know her favorite color? You just got yourself into hot water boy." Tayuya ignored the man and told Naruto, "Yellow." Naruto kept his head directed to her and after a while said dumbly, "Really?" Tayuya's eyes gave a small twitch and she said, "Really. Why would I need to lie?"

Naruto seemed to ponder that for a while before he said, "True." After that he said nothing and they went on walking without talking. The sun had set before the got to the bottom of the quarry, where apparently Nagato's destination was located. Even at the bottom they continued to walk almost directly across the quarry from where they had reached bottom. After that Nagato entered one cave by himself, telling Naruto and Tayuya to keep outside. Within a minute of him disappearing into the darkness of the cave, the sound of metal striking rock echoed from its depths.

Naruto and Tayuya got themselves situated on the ground just outside the cave, leaving hardly a gap for undetected entrance. Naruto sighed when he sat on the ground, knowing that midnight was far off. Tayuya sat down and looked into the sky, staring at the stars. "Sun down is around eight, right?" Tayuya suddenly asked. Naruto looked at her and said, "It should be, since it is supposed to be fall, but I can't tell here." Tayuya nodded and sighed, "Hot as hell during the day, then it freezes over at night. Can't tell what f**king season it is."

"Well when the moon is up directly in the sky, we'll know." Naruto said, trying to ease her. Tayuya groaned when she heard him say that and said, "Yeah, and until then we f**king freeze. Great." Naruto chose not to say anything more since Tayuya saw fault in anything and everything he said to comfort her.

They sat in silence until Tayuya started hugging her knees and shivering. Naruto turned to her, a small smile on his face, and said, "You can take searing temperatures, but a little cold gets you?" Tayuya shot him a glare in return. Naruto cringed a little under the glare. Suddenly his eyes brightened up, and he reached into his pack. "Now," he started, "you can't decline, since you are obviously cold. Even if you do, I'll still make you wear them, even if it comes to force." When he finished he pulled out his old coat and presented it to her. Much to his surprise, she took it without so much as a breath of denial leaving her. He watched her hurriedly put it on and smiled when it was fully on her. She hugged her knees to her body still, but at least she wasn't shivering. Naruto turned away from her, faceing his front, his smile still on his face.

Tayuya watched, as Naruto did nothing in the face of the terrible cold of the country. He sat idly still, without a coat, looking up at the stars, a small smile on his face. He would scratch his nose at times, but other than that did nothing that even remotely kept him warm. "And why doesn't the cold temperature effect you?" she said, mocking him a little, with a subtle tone of interest. Naruto looked at her with the smile still on his face and, with the smile continuing throughout, said, "There was this one winter that I couldn't go home and I spent those days in the snow and rain." Tayuya's face twisted and turned, trying to find the right reaction for that statement along with the expression that he had with it, finding only shock. With a bit of anger making her voice raise, she said, "What do you mean you spent a winter in the rain and snow?!" Naruto looked at her and said, "I mean I spent a winter in the rain and snow. How do you get that confused Tayuya-chan?" Tayuya's eye twitched and, with more anger rising, she said, "You know what I mean dumba**. Why did you spend a winter outside of your home?" Naruto's smile drooped and he turned away from her and said, "It was back when I had neighbors." Tayuya some how felt her anger raise and drop at the same time. "To be factual," Naruto continued, "I wasn't home for about a whole year, until the hokage ordered them to move."

Tayuya looked straight at him, almost pitying him, and asked, "Why couldn't you go home with them there?" Naruto then rubbed his head and he said, "I can't fully remember, funny, I remembered everything that ever happened to me only a couple of days ago."

Naruto had gone back to looking at the stars, as if not minding what they were talking about, or not wanting to touch the subject. His smile had come back as he watched the stars. Each twinkling light Naruto only got a bigger smile planted on his face. Tayuya wondered how he put that so idly behind him and go back to smiling happily.

"Peaceful night huh." Naruto said, without looking away form the sky. She looked up with him, seeing the clear night and millions of stars that shined brightly. She sighed and nodded, finding herself lost in the sky also. "Tomorrow is going to be a new moon." Naruto stated, biting Tayuya's attention from the stars. She saw him looking into the distance, toward the moon. She looked along with him, finding the moon to only be a small sickle in the sky, the position showing it was waning.

"I got to say, I feel a little sleepy." Naruto said. Tayuya looked at him to see his eyes looking heavy and his head nodding a little as his eyelids drooped closed. Tayuya pushed Naruto to wake him up. "We can't just fall asleep on the job. Especially when there are supposed to be enemy ninja about." she scolded him. Naruto scratched the back of his head, while telling his apologies. "I'm sorry, I guess I didn't get a good night's sleep." he said to her. Tayuya nodded to him, accepting his explanation.

For the next hour the two sat in silence that was until Tayuya heard a thud from her side. She turned to find Naruto lying on the floor, snoring quietly. She stood up and walked to his laying form and looked at his face. His face had a quiet peace to it and had a small amount of spittle coming out his mouth. Tayuya kicked Naruto, waking the blonde up.

Naruto got up with a groan and sat up right, rubbing his eyes while he did. "What is going on?" he said with a slur in his voice. A pull on his collar brought him up on his feet, with his eyes directed towards Tayuya's. "Listen Naruto, you dumba**, you may have had one mission as a nuke-nin under you belt, but this is my first mission as one, since you decided to start without me. And I will not allow _my_ first one be botched by some whim you have to fall asleep!" After the final word she released Naruto from her hold. During her small tirade, she had given him some violent shakes, violent enough for him to logically determine that his insides had shifted. Naruto looked at her a moment, with her glaring daggers at him, and immediately sat down.

"You put Sakura to shame when it comes to scariness Tayuya-chan. I think you made my heart switch places with my stomach." Naruto said with an uneasy look on his face and a hand over his stomach. Tayuya sat back in her place and said, "This is the umpteenth time you talked about this f**king Sakura, what are you in love with her?"

She didn't hear an immediate response from Naruto. Naruto sat stock still, staring into space. Tayuya felt a sinking feeling when there was not an answer. Finally Naruto gained a voice and said plainly, "I don't know." Tayuya looked into his eyes, her sight questioning. "You don't know? What kind of answer is that?" She said with a little rage filled venom in her voice. Naruto either didn't hear it or decided to not pay mind to her tone. "It is a true answer. I don't know what love is Tayuya. If I went by it's plain definition, a strong feeling for another; then anybody who paid me a passing glance is a love of mine. It's more common definition, with passion and all other feelings like that is foreign talk to me. If I felt something I thought was related to passionate love, nobody was there to filter it passed. I have no idea what I feel, especially since I am so young."

"You didn't have anybody? Not one person?" Tayuya asked. Naruto shook his head, a smile on his face. "Not until later," he said, "but by then, well, it was something I didn't want to share. Embarrassed, I guess." Naruto gave her a grin and went back to looking at the stars.

"You still haven't told me the reason you have a large smile despite your past." Tayuya said to Naruto, as she looked at the ground. Naruto looked down from the stars, not looking at her, the smile still on his face. "There was this one event, happened around when I was five." He started, "There was this one man, who I would see around town randomly everyday. The random sightings got a bit more frequent and soon I found the man was following me. I didn't think much, I was a kid, unassuming and ignorant, as well as stupid. I never saw what was going to happen next. One day he decided to come up to me. 'Hey kid, you want me to treat you to lunch?' he asked me. I said yeah, since it was free food. He told me he knew a special place that sold great food. I followed him, and we wound up near some abandoned buildings, the owners gone from a war or the attack. He beat me until I found out what it felt like to have your limbs give out. Luckily a ninja who respected the third came and stopped him before I lost consciousness and probably stopped me from falling into a coma. The man was judged before the Konoha council, with them ruling that, for redemption sake, that I decide the man's fate. I told him 'say your sorry', and that was that." Tayuya gave him a stunned look, exploding with surprise and anger. Naruto picked up on the sudden change in her eyes. "Hey I was only a kid," he said, "After that the third hokage came up to me and said 'it takes strong will for one as young as yourself to not cry during or after your ordeal, but, it would have taken a man of considerable will to forgive an attacker.' he gave me a happy\sad look and keeled down to meet my face and said 'keep that that will of yours strong'. The man didn't stop after that and was ultimately sent to death by the council, since I always asked him to do the same thing. Each time the third would come up to me after and tell me he was proud that I could put such treatment behind me and not condemn the man. Although the time before the man got executed the old man said that maybe I should decide on a punishment for the man. The old man gave me reason to smile and each time he did himself, I would only smile greater. Through some periods I was able to catch him during a break and talk to him. He would always talk about the village and everyone in it. Thinking how peaceful it was gave him the biggest smile, and I came to smile when I thought of the peace in the village, despite my treatment. And every time I talked to him, he would tell me to keep that smile I had, it was the biggest he seen he said. And I did, always."

Naruto sighed, and seemed to stare off into space. His smile had faltered a bit, but continued despite the mood he finished off in. His thoughts went back to those times with the third going through them chronologically, until the very end. After that his mouth evened out, no longer showing what was a perennial smile. Tayuya picked up on it immediately, since that smile and his purity had been the subject of all her recent thoughts. She couldn't say she was happy that he was plain faced now, but it calmed her to know he had other emotions. And now that she knew, she felt she should at least that she should try to bring the smile back. It was partly her fault for bring the third back to mind, even if she never knew that Naruto was close to the Hokage.

She searched her mind for something that was worth putting out there, but Tayuya had never tried to consol someone before. She dug deep into her mind for something she hoped would bring him back, for nothing to pop up. Her ineptness led her to shoot into the dark, hoping to get something that would at least bring him out of his mood. "So, why are we doing all this again? Why are we trying to take over Oto?" She asked, surprising herself with how coherent the question was to her interests.

Naruto had chosen to not divulge any information to her as to his reason, but he did have a savage smirk on his face, something she noticed he desperately tried to hide. The last instant that had happened was while they walked from Toritarō to Nagato, which ended the same. He might not answer, but at least it would put that face back to his normalcy.

"You must really want to know." Naruto said, a savage smirk flashing his teeth. Naruto chuckled a little and continued on, "Either that or you're bored." Naruto sat silent for a moment and things went back to how they were, with them sitting while looking at the stars. Tayuya was wholly immersed in the lights of the sky when she heard Naruto speak. "I want to show them just what they lost." He said, his voice hard. "I want them to see that even in defection, I am a hopeless slave to the village." Naruto looked evenly forward and continued, "I want them to see that Uzumaki Naruto is, in fact, a ninja of the leaf. But other goals are also buried in there also. At first all I wanted was to return to the village, as soon as we set foot out. Then, two or three days later, I decided that it was also to show that smug bastard, Uchiha Sasuke, that no matter who he trains with, it will matter not, since the snake will be crushed under my foot."

Naruto sighed and looked down, still with his savage smile plastered on his face. "Then, a week earlier, I realized that even if I do all this, the village's opinion will not change. This won't get me closer to my dream, being hokage; the village will never have _their_ demon apart of their government. So, instead, I will rule over Oto, very much like that of the third, hoping to free them of the savage that is Orochimaru."

"He may seem crazy, but he gave me a home." Tayuya said to Naruto, not knowing if she said that to defend Orochimaru, or if she was trying to get Naruto to stop his plans for his own safety. Whatever she was trying to do, Naruto would get a spike of anger because of her saying that. "I don't hold that against him, but he has done things that have crossed me and my friends. I can't let him get away with it." He said, his voice, in fact, flooded with anger.

"Right." Tayuya said, settling back to watching the night sky. She didn't want to start anything that, she would end up regretting. The two sat in silence for the rest of the time, only making slight conversation. When Nagato came out of the cave and the moon reigned high in the sky the trio went to sleep, making a small camp at the bottom of the quarry.

Three pairs of eyes watched them, belonging to three men. The men were perched in a cave that hadn't any ramps leading to it. Two of the men stood while one sat on the ground in between them. The man on the ground had a black helmet on his head, with four horns sticking out of it. He wore skin clinging black armor on him and had a mask over his mouth. The two standing were the two bandits that had escaped from Naruto and Tayuya earlier. The one on the right was the large man, who led the pack; while the one to the left was the one covered with the large cloak, who took himself and the large man away from Naruto.

"So, those two are more dangerous than they appear? That doesn't seem like that much still." The sitting one said. "You'd think that, but the blondes kick not only took the air out of me but sent me back a ways." The large man said. The cloaked one then said, "We could probably take him three to one, the red head though, I am not too sure of her." The one on the ground made a slight chuckle, "No need, _she _will take care of them. Tomorrow under the new moon, she will get her sacrifices."

Chapter End

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That is the end of chapter 14. Complaints are allowed, as long as you don't go overboard.

If you guys have any ideas to give me I have open ears. I'm not running out, it is the lack of. I know how I want to finish Spiral Tailed, but with the amount of current ideas I have it could end prematurely. To tell the truth, most of the ideas are spouted out of my head on the fly, but my mind isn't that quick, so yeah.

Review, but don't be too harsh on this chapter. Please tell me of mistakes in this one if you see them. I want to make sure it at least is presentable.


	15. My Darling Spider Princess

Spiral Tailed Chapter 15

Discliamer: I don't own Naruto. Final.

If you think the title is a reference to an anime of some kind that is purely accidental. No, I am not referencing an anime.

* * *

My Darling Spider Princess

Bare ground scratched his face. The pressure of gravity pushed his chest to the ground giving him a mild discomfort. He shifted on to his back, a small amount of dirt kicked up in the process. He breathed in, finding the air dusty and dry. His eyes found no light coming through his closed eyelids. He guessed it was still the middle of the night, and refused to fully awaken. Even so his body told him to get up, and no matter what position he shifted to, he found no comfort. His back ached, as if he was hunched over most of the night. His fingers ached, as if he had been digging with his bare hands.

Naruto sat up, the discomfort becoming too much. His eyes stood closed as he rubbed them and yawned. He sat in silence for a while, finding everything was dead quiet. There wasn't any wind, nor was there the sound of breathing from his two companions. Naruto suddenly became aware of the absence of both of them and got to his feet. Finally he opened his eyes, to find there was hardly any visible light. Naruto extended his arms out in front of him, searching for any surface. His hands found a wall, a craggy, dirty wall. His eyes started to adjust to the lack of light and he could see the wall was like that of a cave. Upon looking around he found he was in fact in a cave. He slid his hands off the wall, brushing it with his fingers. He felt it then.

He felt deep claw marks on the wall. The marks were too deep for any normal animal to have made. Naruto turned around to find that claws cut the wall on that side as well. Out of curiosity he looked down, to find that there weren't any prints of some type of savage animal, only his. The prints had stamped the ground almost flat. He would have looked into it, but other things revolved in his mind at the time, like where Tayuya was. Naruto looked around to see if he could find a way out. He seen a small amount of light down the cave and followed it. Along the way he pondered whether he was dead or not and if he was experiencing that tunnel to the light. As he got close to the presumed exit, he found that it did in fact lead out. And dawn had hardly even come yet.

He was still in the quarry, which gave him ease. Searching around he seen the sleeping forms of Tayuya and Nagato. He had been in a cave that was a small ways away from where they had set up camp. He found both of them sound asleep and unaware he was gone. In the least he was glad that he wasn't actually dead or something. He sat on the ground, staring blankly into space. He had written off his displacement merely as sleepwalking and went on. He didn't feel tired enough to go back to sleep, so instead he sat still trying to pass the time. Although after counting the number of caves and mindlessly scratching at the ground lost their appeal, Naruto found himself in quite a stagnant fix.

As boredom strengthened its strangle hold, Naruto felt a chill at his back. Naruto quickly turned around; ready to strike at whatever he had felt, to find nothing but the wind at his back. His heart, which was beating furiously the moment before, was forcefully settled down. When it came to nerves, he wasn't the jumpy type. He jokingly berated himself as he settled back down.

Only to find that his companions were missing, as well as all traces of them. Naruto stood up again, this time ready for what ever would come. With his stance held, he looked around slowly, keeping his senses alert. He soon noticed that the wind had even died down. His sense of touch seemed to be gone also. The only thing he felt was the furious beating in his chest, which didn't help him in keeping alert. Suddenly something told him to turn around. What he found was a figure, a black cloud hugging its body and shielding its features from view, across the quarry from him.

Despite the cloud, Naruto could feel a manic smile just behind the dark cloak. He could feel the intentions just beneath the surface. He felt bloodlust, a want of death, and a bit of joy. The mixture of them gave Naruto a sick feeling.

The figure, which had been standing stock still, shifted its feet, landing in a stance that matched Naruto's. Naruto could feel his heart beat even faster, its rate per minute almost ridiculous. Slowly Naruto moved his stance into a position that was ready to strike. The figure seemed to mimic. Naruto regulated his breathing, hoping to slow down his heartbeat. He gripped and eased his hand, in the same hope of effect as his regulated breathing.

Naruto crossed his arms, summoning Tsume Akuma from both appendages. The figure held its stance, apparently finished with its mimicking. "What did you do with my friend and my client?" Naruto shouted to the figure. It stood frozen still, the cloud still covering its features. Silence was kept between them for moments on end, Naruto hoping for an answer, which didn't come. He gritted his teeth in anger and moved to charge. He was about to shout at the figure; until it was suddenly in front of him, its body crouched down. It pulled back a fist and released it on Naruto's gut, jetting the blond away. As Naruto flew back, he caught a glimpse of the figure moving toward him in a casual walk.

Due to unfortunate positioning, Naruto flew back to hit the side of a cave. The experience was back breaking as his upper half was sent into the cave, while his lower half hit the quarry wall. His lower half bounced off the cave, flipping Naruto deep into the cave. He had some how managed to land in the cave without landing on Tsume Akuma, which he was glad for. He suddenly felt a presence over him. He looked up to find the figure looking down at him. Somehow in the dark of the cave the figures eyes were visible. The figures irises were colored by first a thin ring of red over a ring of blue, exactly like Naruto's. Though the slit was very narrow, almost like that of a line, and a thick black line surrounded the iris. The rest of the figure was cloaked by the darkness of the cave, and Naruto couldn't sense any movement when he felt a tremendous force on his gut.

Naruto got up with a start, no longer sensing the figure, nor finding its eyes anywhere. He got up with a start, ready to fight at any moment. Nothing happened for a long time. His eyes adjusted to the lack of light again, and he found noting in the cave at all. As he looked around he seen claw marks on the cave walls and the ground stamped flat.

* * *

After walking out of the cave and finding everything in order, as if nothing happened, Naruto had guessed he was only having a dream. He had sat down exactly as he did in his dream and quietly expected something to happen. For an hour nothing came up, and Naruto was quickly getting bored. It took close to an hour before the others woke up, with Nagato being the first. Tayuya woke up soon after, just as the food was being cooked, and talked little. Naruto was used to this by now.

Soon Nagato left with his pickax in tow, leaving the two to watch his back.

The day went on somewhat quickly for some reason, even though little was done through out the day. Naruto talked somewhat of his academy days to Tayuya to pass the time.

"And that is when the red paint fell on him. I don't think he would have been as mad if it wasn't for the bull that was issued for us to wrestle. Honestly, if the lesson was for us to display our strength, and he believed any bit of it, that would have been a good time to demonstrate." Naruto finished, leaving Tayuya giggling.

"You mean to tell me that a chuunin, two ranks above you ran away from a bull?" She asked him as her breathing became regular. Naruto shook his head, leaving Tayuya to question him. "What are you getting at then?" She said negatively. A smirk grew on Naruto's face, and he chuckled at the thought. "What I am saying is that three chuunin ran away from a bull." He paused for a second, and caught a questioning look from Tayuya. "It was a joint class exercise. The other two went to help him, but then the other two cans of paint I had that day fell on them. It was a waste as those were going to be used for graffiti. The store never had that sell again." Naruto paused for a moment, seeming to regret the lost cans of paint, but quickly came back. "Anyway it was three against one and not one chuunin could stop that bull. Hypocrites huh? Or they were at least sadists, which would explain a lot." He paused in thought before continuing, "That was the last year of that exercise."

"God damn," Tayuya started, "That's another one you got cancelled, I mean where do you stop? First the hot coals, then the trapezes, after that the explosive tag exercise…" "Hey, that one was only cancelled for a year, and it was an accident." Naruto defended. Tayuya snickered through her teeth, "You made it sound like it was on purpose." Naruto smirked again, "Well, it was a purposeful accident. Besides, he started to sit right after a couple of years."

"That maybe, but it is the only time I can think of that deserves the nickname a** blaster and not have a gay connotation." Tayuya said laughing harder as she went through the sentence. Naruto laughed with her, enjoying telling her his tales.

He went on to recount his life in the academy, accidentally on purpose leaving out the fact all his exploits weren't confined to one or two years. Tayuya laughed at each prank, both at Naruto's past activities and the irony that a village in which they failed to destroy with a jointed army was constantly terrorized by a short blonde twelve year old. Either sound wasn't the budding power it thought it was or Naruto was a good ninja. Both seemed to be possible the more time went on.

Naruto recounted tale after tale, using the subtly of a storyteller and the dramatics of an adventurer telling his own story. He made every stand of with an instructor seem like a fight with a beast, every throw had a chance shot at hitting its target, and every instance of detention seem like a life in a prison.

Though the dramatics were poured on thick and every instance was a twist in the story, Tayuya enjoyed Naruto's, none too humble, stories and it was a good change from the blonde's recent and uncharacteristic silence. As an added bonus for Tayuya the blonde loved to lengthen an otherwise short story and night fell without so much of a groan from either of them.

But that was where it stopped. She noticed as soon as night fell Naruto seemed to get lost in the sky. His head bobbed and faltered as much as it did the day before. His eyes drooped and dilated. Though this time, he shook himself awake each time and went back to story telling, only to start what looked like falling asleep again.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Tayuya said slightly annoyed. Naruto shook his head, though it was to get his eyes to open up, and looked at her. "Yeah I got to sleep, so much so that I woke up at least an hour before you." Naruto said, kind of angry, only to shake himself again and apologize. Tayuya cocked one of her eyebrows in confusion and dawned a new expression of annoyance. "Are you bi-polar or something?" she asked, still annoyed but anxious of the answer. Naruto seemed to think about the question for a second. He chuckled to himself as he said, "Well, I used to be." The confused expression on Tayuya's face made it worth it for him. "When I contained the Kyūbi," He clarified with a smirk, "Get it Tayuya-chan?"

Tayuya groaned at his attempt at a joke and looked to him with a glare, to find him passed out on the ground, face down. A low snore came form where his mouth met dirt and though the scene was comical, Tayuya got terribly angry. "Get up!" she shouted to his prone body. She stood on her feet kicked him in the gut. She gained nothing.

Tayuya growled through her teeth at the boy, staring down daggers at the passed out blonde. She soon found it useless to attempt to scare a sleeping man and sat down. With nothing to do, she waited for Nagato to get done quickly.

Time slipped by slowly for her, there was little to pass time with in an abandoned quarry.

* * *

The light danced across the walls of the cave, the shadows it produced shifting and ominous. There wasn't a person anywhere close to the fire and its dim light, but heavy whispers could be heard deeper inside the cave. "Boss, I don't see why we need-" a sharp hiss silenced the whisper. Some how quieter than a whisper another spoke with a sharp scolding, "It is obvious we are dealing with amateurs, like those genin we came across those months ago. The ones who were mining in that exact cave that man is now. Now do you remember what you used to do when you were that inexperienced? Especially when you were bored?"

Silence followed for a while, before slowly the first one spoke, "I would wander around. But the chances of-." The sharp voice interrupted him, "Exactly, chance. Chance is chance. Even in the slightest part there is always an instance that it could happen, nothing is definite. Nothing…unless it includes her. But she doesn't like to be summoned in the dark of a cave, or in the light of day, or the shimmer of night. No, she loves the dark of the new moon, a lunar eclipse being the only better. She loves to feast at midnight, so we can't attack until then. Any other time than that, unless we are in dire need, she will devour us too."

Silence poured itself into the cave, drowning any words that would be spoken. Even the crackle of the flames died down, as if it was put out.

Suddenly a small spider crawled through the light of the flames, diving deeper into the cave toward the voices. It disappeared into the darkness, and everything went back to normal. More moments of silence continued before a voice spoke out, whispering done, "Report says that time is near, and one of them passed out." The sound of shifting clothes was the only sound of movement in the cave. "Well I guess the fire has a full night of life left."

* * *

"One thousand two hundred five, one thousand two hundred six, one thousand two hundred and seven…" Tayuya softly counted the stars. Without the blonde awake she couldn't help but feel bored. A little more than a couple of months with him and she was accustomed to him just being there. They spent many nights just looking at the stars to pass the time. And though Tayuya had done that before, she knew that with her old team that even if they all watched them together, she was alone watching them. With Naruto she looked up and he looked up with her. They wouldn't comment on it, nor point out anything in particular, but they watched the stars together.

Though in her mind, the days were numbered. He wanted to take on Orochimaru; he wanted to kill her master. No matter how long the delay, that would be his wish. He wanted to give his village that insult, especially the Uchiha. He wanted to kill Orochimaru and take his place in Oto. Watch as his old affiliations buckle to their knees in either fear or regret. He had a death wish, nothing more than that.

She lived under Orochimaru's rule; she knew his regiments, his army. She knew how he loved his sadism in torture, having watched it first hand. She knew that he was untouchable, even if the sound four couldn't intervene; he would deal instantly with the threat, and then have enough power to punish them for their folly. It didn't matter if it was some powerful up-riser, a glory seeking 'hero of the people', or a war hero of Konoha righting the third's 'mistake'. He dealt with them swiftly enough to make it seem as though a wind had tore the up-riser to sunders, the 'hero' to striped flesh, or the war hero to paste.

Now the one person she could call friend decided to take on her master, and she knew the out come, Naruto would only be a chunky paste, having a slight better chance than the war hero. If in the slight chance that Naruto did win, she didn't think she could look at him. She looked up to Orochimaru ever since she knew him. He made promises of a better life under his rule. He promised her power. He gave her a bed.

More or less the man was like a father to her.

A loud snore came to Tayuya's ears. She looked down at Naruto in annoyance, the blonde looking like he was having a blissful sleep. Her annoyed expression deepened, but relaxed at the boy's expression. If Naruto was good at something it was some how keeping anger off of him.

She sighed as she continued to count the stars, having to restart. It wasn't long before Naruto did something again, this time whimper. She turned a surprised face to him, before she started to snicker at the sight. Naruto was lying down much like a dog, and looked as if he was having a dream like one too. Naruto moved his arms and legs in such a way that he looked like a dog chasing something. Her snickers turned to chuckles and those to laughs. All the stories he had told earlier were put to shame as she watched him chase something in his dreams. If she had to guess why, she would say he was doing it because he absorbed the Kyūbi. But the excuse didn't make it any less funny.

"You see a rabbit boy? Huh? Do ya?" she said in a good-natured mock. Then Naruto started to toss and turn, a pained expression on his face. Whimpers turned to moans, and the feral run turned into wild flailing. Naruto started to grab his head, his teeth clenched. Tayuya didn't know if the dream turned into a nightmare or if he somehow got a migraine while he slept. She pushed him awake, a little bit worried since it seemed so violent.

Naruto got up with a jolt, and fell back suddenly when a jolt of pain shot through his back. "M-my back!" he shouted out. "That is what happens when you have nightmares while sleeping on the ground. What happened back there?" Tayuya asked. Naruto, not fully awake or in his right mind, told her, "I was chasing a ramen-flavored bunny whe-." Tayuya's sharp laughter cut him off. He was confused for a second before it dawned on him. Naruto shot up again, ignoring the pain in his back, and yelled out, "Never speak of this again!!!"

Before Tayuya could respond with a plain 'no deal', she was cut off. "Now, now, that is trivial compared to other matters on hand." came a sharp voice. Naruto and Tayuya turned around to find three ninja standing in their midst. The one at the head was dressed in full body armor that was skin tight, a ma, one standing of slightly to the right just behind the head was the big burly man that they had seen yesterday, and far behind to the left was the one whose body was covered in a cloak. Naruto got on his feet, a little too wobbly than anyone would hope, and got into a fighting stance. "You must be amateurs to just come out of hiding like that." Naruto scolded, before continuing with a grin, "That or you're cocky." Suddenly the cloaked one in the back ran up to Naruto, his cloak flying behind enough to reveal a dagger in his hand. With a swift movement the cloaked man slashed at Naruto's stomach. Just as Naruto was about to catch the man's arm by the wrist, a hand grabbed and pulled on the cloak flying behind the man. With a yank the man was pulled backward and, with a grunt, he fell to the ground.

The armored man scolded his comrade as he held the cloak in his fist. "Jumping the gun aren't we? I said have fun, not kill. That is her job." The armored man said with a sharp chuckle. The cloaked man showed nothing, but got up with a growl. Another yank and he fell to the ground again. He looked back to the armored man, and growled again.

The armored one walked up to the cloaked man and stepped on the hand that still had the dagger in it. "We won't use deadly force, not yet." He said as he applied pressure to the man's hand, twisting his foot on it.

The cloaked man released the dagger and got up again, this time without show of anger.

The three stood, absently watching Naruto and Tayuya. Naruto stood on edge, watching for any movement, any breath, any sign for and attack. When a sign didn't show, Naruto couldn't control himself as he edged them on. "Well?" he said with an anxious voice. None of the men moved from their place, but the armored man did chuckle. "No, you go first, it won't matter as soon as it reaches midnight."

Naruto took the invitation. Without much movement he flashed passed the armored man and took out the big guy. Naruto always liked to add a bit of showmanship to his fights. Taking out the big one first did just that, and it did give a good amount of intimidation. And just to show the man who he was dealing with, Naruto also took out the cloaked man, though Tayuya had gotten in some good shots with kunai before he could even get there. Still he did knock back the scrawny man a foot or so.

Just as what happened registered with the armored man, Naruto appeared behind him, patting him on the shoulder. "What? How?" the man got out before Naruto flipped over him and used kouasshuku heki, sending the man flying back.

The armored man skidded along the ground, clutching at his stomach, the site where Naruto hit him. "Consider that a warning," Naruto called out as the man stopped, "not all ninja look like they could kill you with a single stroke. And some, like me, don't like being under estimated." Naruto walked to the man, slowly for dramatic effect.

Despite the pain, the man sat up, and quickly went through a couple hand seals. With a winded voice he whisper, "Come and feed my queen. Feed on this dangerous foe that threatens your most faithful." The armored man slammed down his hand yelling, "**Kuchiyose no Jutu**!!! Wake Ibitsukumohime!"[1]

A plume of smoke shot out of the ground. Slowly the whole bottom half of the quarry was covered in a thick fog. Naruto turned back; making sure Tayuya was all right. He would be in worse straits if she were hurt.

Thankfully for him, she was fine, if hacking up quite a bit because of the smoke. "Careful, we don't know exactly what we're up against." He warned her. Through her coughs she yelled out, "Are you deaf? He said kumo, we obviously are against a giant summoning spider." Naruto turned back to her, "I said 'exactly', we don't know just how big, or what kind." Tayuya shook her head, "Well yeah we have that, but spiders are much like insects with soft skeletons, but just a little bit harder. The only thing you have to worry about is how fast this f**ker is." Naruto looked back to her with questioning looks, wondering how she knew that. She stared him down for a bit before yelling, "I'll tell you later, right now concentrate on the battle!"

Through the smoke they heard something like a cross between a gurgling breath and a hiss. The shift of many legs across the dirt was heard, traveling a bit farther away. Naruto could hear a whimper, possibly coming from the man. "F-forgive me my princess. F-forgive me for summoning you to help with a measly child." The man whimpered and stuttered his sentence. Another gurgling hiss was heard and the man's whimpers came out full. "Please my princess! I'll make it up to you! You can have those two lackeys that I have been keeping! Forgive my sins!" The man yelled and cried, obviously this summon came with a price depending on the circumstances.

A last gurgling hiss was heard; this time it was an odd mock at an attempt to comfort. Though the man's whimpers stopped abruptly, it didn't seem as though he died as the spider talked to him a moment after word. "My dorei [2] how can I be angry?" the voice was softer than Naruto or Tayuya thought it could be. "The new moon is high in the sky and the agarimono [3] is strong." As the words came out of the mouth, both felt as though it was salivating. A disturbing tingle ran up Naruto's spine. It sounded like he was going to fight a monster, not a spider.

The smoke started to rise and the body of the spider became visible. The legs looked more like sickles than anything resembling spider legs. The abdomen was fat and despite the look of massive weight, stood there, a couple of feet above the ground. The abdomen was colored mix of blood red and purple, signaling probable venom. But what stood out to the two wasn't a certain part of a spider. It was what replaced the head. There connected to the abdomen was a gray pale, sickly looking torso of a woman. Connected to the shoulders of that torso were blade-like claws, very much like what certain insects had. Connected to the torso was a head of a human woman, with mandibles adjacent to her mouth. Dark coarse hair ran down the face and back of the head, not covering up the tinge yellow eyes, nor even trying to hide the mandibles. All together the grotesque body took up a couple of yards in the quarry and stood couple more.

The torso was slung down, with the body of the woman rubbing against the man. Despite the disturbing look of the woman, the man didn't seem unnerved. In fact he seemed in pure bliss of the attention she was giving him. "My sweet dorei. You could not do better. The night is perfect, my food is strong, and the promise of more; you couldn't make me happier." As the words came out her mouth, she licked him with a disgustingly long tongue.

"My princess, you're meal is staring." The man said weakly. The head of the creature turned to the two, who were staring unblinkingly at the creature. Her eyes traveled over them like that of a predator. Her mandibles clicked together and a smile contorted on her mouth. "My they are small dorei," the man shielded himself as she said those words, "but the power that short blonde on gives off it is thick, savory, and I can tell that it is a delicacy that is too delicious to pass up." As she said that her eyes looked at Naruto much like a brothel girl selecting her client. His stomach churned the thought. It was enough to make a month's worth food show itself.

The man picked up on the look, and his posture fell as if disheartened. He turned his head to Naruto and took out a knife. "Shall I prepare the agarimono, my princess?" he asked, want filling his voice. The creature kept her eyes on Naruto and denied him. "No, this is something better eaten raw." Her mandibles clicked again as the mouth salivated. Slowly she made her walk to them, her walk giving a mocking strut. The man seemed to notice this. Without so much as a breath he leaped into the air and dashed to Naruto. The dagger clutched tightly in his hand, he raised it over his head, crying out. His battle cry caught the attention of the other three in the quarry, his allies knocked out.

He passed up his summon, who shouted out to him. "Dorei, stop this instant. I command you to stop dorei. Listen to your master! I don't want my food cut up dorei!" The words fell on deaf ears. The man stood inches from Naruto, knife lowered. He stabbed the knife up, aiming for Naruto's gut.

Naruto caught them man's wrists before the dagger got close enough to make him slightly uneasy and kneed the man in the face. While the man's head jerked back, Naruto took the knife away from him. With one more move he elbowed them man in the chest, using kouasshuku heki to get though the armor. The man flew back, his armor cracking so much that his chest became exposed.

Before the man finished flying though the sky Naruto rushed forward, and planted the man's own dagger into his chest. A sharp shriek filled the quarry, piercing the ears of Naruto and Tayuya. The spider creature stood in shock and rushed to the man with speed. As she came upon him and Naruto, she swatted Naruto away. She picked the man up with her claws, shaking him gently. "Dorei, dorei! Get up! You can't die! Where will my sacrifices come from? Dorei!!" She kept on shaking him, more forcefully as time went on. In desperation her grip tightened, with a gruesome crack the man's back bended backwards, broken by her vice grip.

Another loud shriek pierced into the night. A high ring placed itself into the ears of both Naruto and Tayuya. The creature turned a menacing eye to Naruto and yelled, "Agarimono! Your flesh will ferment in my stomach for eternity! Before you go to hell, you will go through hell!" The creature raised its claws into the air and shook its abdomen. Small wet orbs fell from the bottom of the abdomen onto the ground. Naruto couldn't stomach it, much like the rest of the night, only this time it became known.

The creature looked up, as if beseeching heaven, "Dorei! Our children will devour your killer! Look on them with pride!" Suddenly each egg hatched simultaneously, revealing a spider rivaling the size of a small dog. The small spiders crawled in circles for a while, as if getting their bearings. Their numbers in the strong twenties, Naruto couldn't help but feel as though even if they were spiders that it wouldn't be an easy fight. Slowly they turned and walked around, finally settling their eyes on Naruto and Tayuya. Their mandibles clicked together and their mouths salivated.

As one the spiders charged and Naruto. Though he stepped on one, gaining a scream from the giant spider creature, the others quickly swarmed him. As the spiders slowly pulled him down, the mother released another five more eggs. The spiders swarmed and nibbled on him as he writhed on the ground. "Shuucihou Heki" Naruto yelled under all the spiders. With an explosion the spiders on top of him were launched into the air, while the ones closer to the ground were crushed in the burst.

Naruto got up and looked around, looking for Tayuya. His eyes settled on a mass of spiders crawling around. He ran as quickly as he could, unleashing Tsume Akuma as he did. When he got to the foot of the spiders he swiped at the top, uncovering a writhing scratched Tayuya.

His dispelled the claws from his hand and got her up from the spiders. Naruto ran with Tayuya in hand from the swarm coming up, running along the wall of the quarry, attempting to get away from the swarm. "Naruto, cover me for a second." Tayuya asked him. Naruto looked at her for a second, never faltering in his run. She looked determined, and though they might get chewed up, he trusted her judgment. "Tell me where to set you down." He told her. She nodded and pointed toward the creature. "As close as you can get me to her line of sight." Naruto looked at her incredulously, but ultimately nodded back.

He would have to turn around as they almost made full circle around the quarry, but he still would do it. He looked behind himself, finding that the walls were free; despite the fact the spiders could climb it. Naruto, not looking a gift horse in the mouth, ran onto the wall, molded the chakra to his foot, and ran back along the wall.

One of the spiders jumped up and latched itself to his face. Naruto pulled it off, and crushed it in his hand, and wiped the gunk off his hand. "I think that was the one smart one among those spiders. They are supposed to have good reflexes, yet that one is the only one who-." She started to say as another attacked Naruto's face. "Okay, there were two smart ones." She corrected herself.

Using a little chakra enhanced run, Naruto got a good distance away from the spiders to put Tayuya down. He took place in between her and the spiders. As the spiders got close Naruto released Tsume Akuma, ready for attack.

He calmed himself as much as he could and prepared for the first attack. He didn't looked back at Tayuya to see what she was doing; for fear that his faltering gaze would kill them both. He sliced each one that jumped to attack his face, reducing them to a gory slush. If suggestions and giant spider eggs made him fell sick, cutting down spiders like this made retching seem pleasant compared to how his stomach felt at that moment.

Suddenly Naruto heard Tayuya yell to the creature. "Hey spider bitch your babies seem to like to show their brothers their insides huh?" Naruto wondered just what the hell she was doing. With a good deal of the spiders wiped out he risked a look. Tayuya was severely concentrating on the creature with her hand in a seal. Naruto risked a look at the creature, some how lucky enough to kill a spider as he did. The creature looked to Tayuya, her eyes locking with Tayuya's. Naruto heard Tayuya whisper, "**Hensen genzou no jutsu**." [4]

The creature stared into Tayuya's eyes for a while. Suddenly it laughed in a high shrill. It yelled out, "My babies, come to mother. You did a good job, especially with the harlot who called me a bitch. Come, your job is done." The spiders seemed confused, especially since Naruto was still there, as was Tayuya. If the spiders could show any expressions they would hold one about the same as Naruto, who showed confusion beyond. The creature beckoned to them one more and the spiders didn't resist. They slowly made their way to their mother, who seemed giddy with joy.

Naruto looked to Tayuya once more before the realization dawned on him. "Tayuya you're a genjutsu user?" Tayuya didn't speak, she didn't nod, or even acknowledge him. He waved his hand in front of her face. She blinked once, with a surprised face. She then looked toward Naruto, her face red with anger. "Idiotic motherf**king bastard! I had to keep my sights on her for that to work!" she yelled at him.

Realization dawned on him soon and in reflex he turned to the creature, which now towered over them. A large amount of gunk was stuck to her claws. Naruto looked to where she was to find that none of the small spiders remained. The creature swatted him away with her claw and picked Tayuya up by her neck. The creature hissed at Tayuya, clicking her mandibles together as she did so. "Red head bitch, you think that was funny. You like playing with my mind! I may have crushed my dorei on accident, but trust me, that pressure you feel on your head isn't accidental. I'll make the death slow and satisfying. Though I can't wait to her it crack."

Tayuya squirmed in the creatures grip. Her head in a literal vice grip. She screamed as the claws slowly tightened.

Naruto watched from across the quarry. He was too shocked to do anything. It was the first time he froze since the demon brothers, though that was hardly a year ago. He couldn't help it, his mind traveled to the aftermath if it continued. The image was to much to bear, even if imaginary. He started to think of his dream, where her body was mangled up. The thought kept him on his back staring at Tayuya. She looked at him as the crushing became harder. That was too much to bear then.

Naruto stood up; feeling like a fire was spreading across him. He focused on the creature and ran. Hardly half a second later, he was upon the creature and clawed at one of her legs, tearing it off.

He jumped up, level with the shoulders, in between her arms. Naruto latched on to the bases of the arms clutching them with all his might. In reflex the creature released Tayuya, who fell to the ground. Naruto planted a foot on the creature's human torso, hands still gripping the arms and pushed off. The force tore the arms out of the sockets. Naruto landed on the ground with the arms still in hand.

He watched the creature writhe in agony, before setting her sights on Naruto. A hungered look took over her face as she bared her teeth in a gruesome grin. "Your energy, it changed." She said with the grin growing evilly. Naruto looked at himself, his body was surrounded by a dark aura, much like the Kyūbi in the dream.

Naruto looked up from himself, finding that the creature was starting to charge. With an evil grin she reared back, the loss of one of her legs making it look awkward, but she went without trouble. She launched herself forward much like her summoner before her.

Naruto prepared a fist. Without giving the creature the handicap of getting in close first, Naruto punched the air, releasing a kouasshuku heki of great magnitude. It shot the creature back, and slammed her into a wall. The creature flattened out much like the first child of hers that he killed and like other crushed spiders.

Naruto never thought that a summon could be killed. Evidence provided said other wise.

He turned around to Tayuya, the fire settling. He walked to her with a worried expression. She caught it and waved it off. "Its nothing, I just fell like I have a headache." Naruto was relieved to a degree. He continued to walk over to her until he was at her foot. He started to rub behind his head sheepishly. "I shouldn't have frozen back there. I- I- I just-." He started before Tayuya caught him off. "Damn right you shouldn't have," she said, making his posture fall, but you didn't let me die. That is way better than what my old team would have done." Naruto didn't know if that was supposed to make him feel better but it did make him wonder.

Before he could get in a question she started to talk. "Like one of my teammates, Kidomaru, would have totally be fighting over that thing with that guy." She said with good humor. Naruto laughed a little and said, "Let me guess that guy with six arms? I think the spider thing would have fell for him."

They each traded a good-natured laugh, Tayuya laughing a bit harder than Naruto.

"If you guys would stop laughing for a minute, I want to know if it is safe." Came a voice. They looked around in confusion, finding Nagato hiding just inside his cave. Naruto turned his head for a second, looking for any spiders or the other two men. He didn't find any spiders but he seen the men, or what was left of them. It looked like the spiders had their way with the bodies without their mother's knowledge. "I don't see anything, but be on guard to be careful." Naruto shouted out to Nagato.

The man crept out to the cave and sprinted to the two. He made sure not to leave himself blinded on any level. When he got to the two, he made sure they watched his back. Tayuya gave a glare to Naruto as she said, "I would say not to worry, but some one took my concentration of the big thing when I was making her kill her kids."

"That is the most gruesome thing I heard in my life. Man, today wasn't a day to be me. I had to see the thing licking the man, had to kill a bunch of slime filled infant spiders, just heard of a mother committing infanticide. How the hell did you do that anyway? I thought it was going to be a distraction." Naruto finished and looked at Tayuya. She sighed before telling him simply, "It is how the jutsu works."

"You can't explain it better than that?" he asked her.

"Why?" she asked back.

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Because I'm curious."

"Then go diddle some dude."

Naruto couldn't come up with a comeback for that, only yelling at the top of his lungs, "I'm not gay!

* * *

In the after math the three finally settled down in front of a fire to eat. Nagato feasted on the meat as he was in the cave working all day. Tayuya ate hers much as she always did, tearing each piece off with her teeth. Meanwhile, Naruto hadn't so much as touched his food.

Though he had his mouth full, Nagato asked Naruto why he wasn't eating. Naruto merely smiled and said he wasn't hungry.

"Damned if you're not hungry." Tayuya said to him, picking a piece of meat in her teeth. Naruto starred at the slab of meat in front of him. "No I don't think I can." He said with a sigh. Tayuya got in his face with a mouthful of meat and scolded him. "You haven't eaten since morning, yet you're not hungry?" Naruto nodded. "Fine suit yourself." She said as she took his piece of steak.

"Yeah I don't think I could eat today, not with what happened." Naruto said frowning. Tayuya simply looked at him and said, "You got to learn to put the past behind you, you lose your eyes on the present. Like now, you can't eat because I just ate you steak. And all because you can't put spider guts out of your mind."

Naruto shook his head, "No not that. It is the whole thing between the man and… that thing." Tayuya looked at him again, "What him summoning her?" Naruto shook his head. "Her killing him?" came her other suggestion. Naruto shook his head.

"No, it is the whole… I can't believe I am saying this. The whole… relationship between them." Tayuya paused, as did Nagato. "I mean, they seemed close, she even licked him." Tayuya and Nagato gagged. "She mourned his death. What more, she called the baby spiders… their children."

Nagato and Tayuya sat for a second, thinking on the point Naruto made. Each of them looked off into space as the suggestion brought unneeded images into their brains.

Tayuya ran off and did Nagato, leaving Naruto next to the fire, before he ran off too.

From the dark of night Tayuya yelled at the top of her lungs, "God dammit Blondie. Why bring it up!"

Across the quarry Naruto yelled, "Well you two were asking me, I thought I should tell you!"

Chapter End

* * *

This has been chapter 15 of Spiral tailed.

[1] – Ibitsukumohime - Distorted Spider Princess - First off, I would like to say I have a better understanding of Pig Latin, than I do Japanese. Not saying that it makes more sense, but I would be able to go father into a conversation with some one who could somehow fluently speak Pig Latin than a conversation in Japanese. So if what I say is not what that means or my grammar is messed up, blame my ignorance of the Japanese language. I have to say Japanese is third on my languages to learn list, with Spanish and Latin at the top.

[2] – dorei – slave- as simple and as pure as that. I don't do translation right there during the story, then why go to the trouble of searching for it, you have the meaning then and there. It takes from the story to know just what she means at first. But if you can speak Japanese, then you already knew. But I want to know how many thought that was his name.

[3] – agarimono – food offering – refer to the words after two. I can't help but love words like this. To me a perfectly executed word in a language other than English rolls off the tongue. And a word like this used in that context, I can't help but revel in it.

[4] – Hensen genzou no jutsu – art of the changing illusion- I've already talked about the site I reference to, (freedict . com if you are wondering) I am not sure of some translations, mostly because I don't know Japanese.

As a side note, this has been the best chapter to make in a while. Most of it anyway.

For those of you wondering, no, I don't know the name of the creature they were fighting. All I remember is that there was a Japanese legend about one. Secondly, no, I don't like the thought I put out there, but it gave a sense of creepy to me, so I put it in.

If you noticed, yeah, no names for the three. I tried researching names before, and hated it. Names have meanings, and while doing clever word play gets laughs from those who get it, to much time goes into it for a character that will die or never be seen again. I would do meaningless names but that seems to be not right. Like I said names have meanings, blah, blah, it wouldn't be right.

From the urging of a reviewer I am considering to move the rating up, enough reviews that agree and I will do it.

Review. Later.


	16. Conditions of War

Spiral Tailed chapter 16

Disclaimer: I am not feining ownership of the Naruto series or anything related to it. I am merely writing this story as a fan work and nothing else.

Enjoy the chapter.

* * *

The Conditions of War

It had been two weeks since their protection mission in the quarry. Naruto and Tayuya received their pay a couple days after Nagato had sold his earnings from his mining. The sum was substantial. So much so, that while Nagato waited to hear from his contacts for anything, Naruto requested to mine with him. Tayuya guessed it was out of greed. That went on for a couple of days. Then one day on the way to the mine, Naruto and Nagato ran into a wanted poster of the man who summoned the spider creature. After somehow retrieving the body, they received more money. It was funny though; Tayuya remembered burning it. Then Naruto was back to helping Nagato mine, somehow not satisfied with the money they already had.

Ever since that day with the spider creature, Naruto had become slightly on edge. He had become more distant than he had become before they had even started helping Nagato. He would come back in a bad mood, talking being the last thing on his mind. It could be the fact he worked in a dark cave for most of the day, the heat from the lamps and their perspiration making a hot and humid environment, and the sheer work that caused his hands to be beyond blistered; all of it could cause his distance. Maybe Tayuya could just have been craving the attention that he usually gave her. Either case, she was disturbed by Naruto now. He carried an air around him that reminded her of when he first absorbed the Kyubi.

Then there was one day when he came back; his blistered palms were companioned by bloody knuckles. After he washed his hands she could not see any cuts on them. She could only guess that he had gotten into a fight. Each time she would ask why, he would give her a look that seemed as though he would give up the information. But then his face contorted, tightening up into a scowl and he said with an angered drawl, "Some people should learn to mind their own business." It was obvious he directed it at her. She had advanced on him, like she was going to get into a fistfight with him, but backed down, as he seemed as ready as she had thought she was.

She lay on the heart bed, sighing as if a weight was on her chest. She wanted him to talk, but she wasn't the one to break under pressure. In the sound four she was the last one to break under pressure. Kimimaru wasn't counted, as he was apart of them when they were the sound five. Still she was stubborn, something she prided herself on. If something was wrong she was not going to ask, not even if she wanted to know.

"Trouble in paradise?" came a subtle mock of sympathy. Tayuya shot herself upright to find the white haired Jiraiya standing there at the window. He held a notebook up to his face, his eyes darting over what ever was scrawled on it. Then his looked up from it and talked in an overly dramatic way. "And so the hero, his path becoming weathered and heavy, leaves his companion alone in a strange place, presumably to feast on pleasures of the flesh." Tayuya was shocked by what the man said. But before she could actually get a questioning word in, the old man continued. "That is when, alone and isolated, the woman thinks of the man who she has traveled with for so long. Their time together, their experiences, their thoughts of each other; filled with passion and lust." If Tayuya was shocked before she was some how beyond shocked now. The old man continued, "And then the realization dawns on her. The man she watched emerge from the boy she had ran into the time so long ago, the lust which dominated her thoughts of him, became thoughts of love." The old man wiped a tear from his eye. "She decides that, as soon as her love returns, she will not only give her body to him, but her heart too."

Tayuya couldn't so much as move, she wanted to beat the man to a slimy pulp. She wanted to scalp the man in the most painful way she could muster and wear his hair like a headdress. His skull would become her trophy and new cup. She would hollow out his femur and make a new flute.

"What do you think?" the man asked, looking at her with an accomplished smirk. Tayuya got the strength to move and stood up, though she couldn't do much else. Her jaw, which if could unhinge and fall from her face, would have dropped to the floor long ago. Clenching her fists and tightening her jaw her strength to walk came back with stomps. She came up to him until she was just in grabbing distance. Finally her voice came out with an explosion.

"How f**king dare you! While Jin is at a f**king _whore-house_," she stressed the word, "Hikairi decides to fall in love with him?" Jiraiya raised a finger, trying to get a defensive word out but was silenced immediately. "I thought you were going to write this one with a coherent romance, not some s**t that is obviously doomed to fester hatred and malcontent! F**king novelist, my f**king ass!" She walked back to the bed to sit down; Jiraiya took the chair that just sat there in the corner of the room. She had been helping him with the book idea ever since Naruto had started leaving to mine with Nagato while they waited for news. Jiraiya came three days after. He told her that he was tracing Naruto, wanting to make sure he was doing fine. Tayuya reported how Naruto was doing and pushed him out of the door. The old man asked her she wouldn't be lonely alone. She just told him she was in paradise. She pushed him out once more before he had asked her to review how his novel was going. She was forced to comply and, after the initial shock of finding out how perverse it was, gave the 'novelist' ideas for the 'novel'. Though she was handing out ideas for a porn, as she initially called it before being corrected many times, it gave her something to do.

Finally able to get in some defensive talk, he explained, "I needed something to fill a chapter with. My publisher likes a certain amount of chapters with each book. My inspiration is pretty lacking with the hot stuff and I couldn't seem to think of anything to put there. So I went to a brothel and... well, I am sure you can see." He looked at her to see if she would approve. Not so much as a soft look came his way. She gave him a look that seemed to convey that the idea gave off a foul smell. "A real novelist would immediately tear the idea out of the his head." Jiraiya seemed to instantly grow somber, almost on the verge of tears. Tayuya's comfort sitting in the room fell drastically. She fidgeted awkwardly as the grown man continued to weep.

The man suddenly made a loud prolonged sniff that sounded like it sucked up a month's worth of phlegm. Her stomach gurgled uncomfortably, threatening to make her see her lunch if the man did that again. Just before he was about to suck in his nose, she tried to give him comforting words, "It is...uh... okay. I am... sure you can-" Before she could finish, the man a gave out a loud sob, which contained the barely coherent words, "I can't!" The man sobbed a little more before he yelled, "I have writers block! Nothing comes to mind!" He picked up his arm and wiped it across his overly soaked eyes. He then looked at her, his eyes pleading for anything, a small bit of hope.

Tayuya sighed and placed her hand on her forehead. She rubbed her temple as her mind grinded for suggestions. Finally something clicked. "Okay forget them stopping at an inn, give them one more adventure. Have the adventure lead them to someplace they can settle. Have some sort of conflict going on between them, like the Jin starting to feel for Hikairi. Have him conflicted because he thinks that Hikairi won't stay with him. You made it seem as though they were only friends with benefits. So in a last ditch attempt, he just admits that he loves her and then ... have them do it. I don't know you are the one who is supposedly a 'novelist'. Just make is more romantic than what you were talking about earlier. Nothing about it was a good romance."

Jiraiya gave a lecherous grin and said, "Well my target demographic doesn't want good romance. They want good, hot, and steamy scenes that will make their legs wobble and heads airy. Only the great Jiraiya can deliver such." The old man was obviously lost within himself as he spoke. Tayuya sighed; all Konoha ninja were crazy.

She fell back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling. "How is Naruto?" she heard the old man ask. She sighed again, and without bothering to get up, said, "I hardly know him and I can say he is acting out of character." She heard Jiraiya hum as in a thoughtful way, the most serious tone she heard him use since their escape from Konoha. She then heard him get up from his seat and walk to the window. She half expected him to leave; he left on even more abrupt terms before.

"I may know what is plaguing Naruto." she heard him say, as serious as he was back at Konoha. Tayuya got up for that. "Are you going to tell me?" she asked as polite as she could. The man usually left after she had called him 'dirty old man' one too many times.

"I am not too sure _what_ exactly... but I have hypotheses." he said with sigh. "One hypothesis is that he is just still absorbing all of the Kyubi, after all it is a lot of chakra. But after watching you two at the quarry, I am starting to think that there was an even more sinister chakra in him than that of the Kyubi's, and he is starting to absorb that." Tayuya tensed up, an uncomforting felling falling into the pit of her stomach. "H-how do you know?" she asked, the feeling getting worse.

Jiraiya sighed once more, "I talked to him before you two went to the quarry. The night before he was tossing in the bed you two slept in. Frankly, I don't know how you kept asleep all night with him thrashing around. Anyway, he told me how his dream turned out. He was the Kyubi in a throne room. A man, Madara, came into the room and provoked him into a fight, with the dead body of his mate. Naruto's view was then skewed, and he saw things as a spectator for a while. He saw the Kyubi's fur, golden white originally, turn blood red as a dark aura washed over him." Tayuya remembered the night at the quarry where Naruto attacked the spider creature and a dark aura seemed to waft from him.

"Madara kept provoking the Kyubi to the extent that it started to grow, so much so that it went from the size of a human, to the giant fox that haunt's Konoha's memory today. What more, Madara talked of an old legend in the dream. He said he was 'testing it' and showed the Kyubi the body of its mate, and many bodies of other kitsune." Tayuya stood up and said, "Well it was only a dream right?" She said, though it was only for her own reassurance. She didn't know what it was but she didn't like what Jiraiya was saying. It unsettled her more when he said, "I could swear that I heard a legend that talked about dark aura. I have been trying to remember but I only remember this much. 'When a spirit king is enraged to a great extent, corruption will spill-"

Jiraiya abruptly stopped and Tayuya was about to yell at him to continue, but then the door swung open.

Naruto stood there, either taking something out or putting something in his jacket. He even seemed to have a happy face on. The first time in a week. But as soon as he seen Jiraiya the smile faltered and he placed whatever it was in his jacket. He walked in the room and addressed only Tayuya, "We have a carriage waiting for us."

Tayuya walked up to him with a questioning gaze. Naruto reached in his back pocket and pulled out a paper, which he handed to Tayuya. The paper contained a brief letter with it that read:

_These two sound good, this carriage will transport them to me. I look forward to their services. The blonde sounds like a good warrior._

_Your old friend,_

_Kenichi_

Tayuya looked up from the note and said, "This guy sent a carriage for us?" Naruto nodded quietly and was about leave the room when he looked to Jiraiya's direction. "You better not have been bothering her you old bastard." Naruto's tone was not as playful as one would have thought. Jiraiya was taken back by this, having no comment. Naruto grabbed his pack by the door and left through the threshold. Outside the room he looked back at Tayuya and said, "You can go to the bathroom, but hurry, we are going to leave before dark." Tayuya looked out the window; dusk was dawning.

* * *

Kakashi sighed heavily; he was tired. They had been trailing Naruto for a couple weeks now. They knew where the trail left off, into the border country of Fields, which lied between Fire and Wind, but the trial stopped there. Towns were hard to come by in the country and sometimes they would miss a town that was only a little ways off. When they landed in a town, nobody seemed to see the blonde enter or leave. The only way they knew he was there was because of the food stands and hotels. They remember a blonde and redhead couple that, in their words, was 'playful' in their talks. The two left and weren't seen again.

The tracking dogs couldn't pick up the trail as time had killed the scent.

All in all though, the tracking would have gone faster if Kakashi was not forced to train Sakura without cause. He was supposed to get the blonde back as diplomatic as possible, and here he was, training Sakura for confrontation. He didn't get Tsunade's reasoning, if he was supposed to talk it out with Naruto, coerce him to come back, how did training Sakura to fight help the diplomacy at all.

It was obviously about the redhead, as Shikamaru acted as a consultant on the redhead's technique. But Intel' they gathered recently showed that Naruto might not take kindly to Sakura battling it out with his new friend. The two refugees sounded chummier than enemies should be, but each time Kakashi brought this up, Lee called the redhead a 'fiery seductress'. Kakashi still didn't think Naruto would be happy. Especially since his 'seductress' was being attacked.

"Kakashi-sensei," he heard a female call from behind his book. He looked up to see Sakura standing there, with a determined look and her headband actually on her forehead. He sighed as he closed his book. He guessed it was training time.

He stood up and looked down at the pink haired girl before him. He looked around at the others, seeing how they were holding up. They were mostly absorbed in their own designs. Kiba, Choji, Shino, and Lee were huddled around in a tight circle. Kakashi seen a pair of dice fall from Kiba's hand. Lee muttered something; Kakashi read something close to 'gambling is unyouthful' on his lips. Shikamaru was lying on a large lone rock that Neji was training on. Shikamaru was undisturbed by the fact that the Huuga hit the rock hard. The rest of the girls were just sitting around, talking about barely coherent things. Besides Sakura, this was the most lax retrieval team in ninja history.

He looked back to Sakura, whose gaze didn't falter. In fact it sharpened upon Kakashi's focus. He noticed her fists tightened. "Well, I can say you have down right mastered the basics of genjutsu. But you lack power in physical combat." Sakura's posture lessened as the words came from Kakashi, but she regained it quickly. "What we need to do is cover that base, but one can only have so much strength. That said, we will cover it in a way one such as you only can." Kakashi then cut his thumb in a quick motion with a kunai and ran through hand-signs. He slammed his palm on the ground and a plume of smoke shot out of the ground.

A big chubby bulldog stood in front of Sakura; a thick scroll on it's back. It panted slightly and licked its nose. Kakashi palmed the scroll on the dog's back and picked it up. "This is the ninja dog summoning scroll. Catch." He threw the scroll at Sakura, who could barely hold it at her torso. He then pulled out a kunai and through it to her feet, barely missing one of her toes. "I want you to cut one of your fingers then write your name in a blank spot in the scroll."

Sakura put the large scroll down, it dropping heavily from her arms. She then unrolled it until a blank space came to her eyes. She picked up the kunai and held it to her index finger. She was about to cut it before she looked up at Kakashi and asked, "Why does it have to be a dog summon?" Kakashi only gave her a questioning glance before he sighed and said, "Do you think that I carry around summoning scrolls? I only summon ninja dogs. It takes too much chakra to summon more. Besides what would you want to summon anyway?" Sakura smiled slyly and said simply, "Tigers."

"You want that? I suppose we can go to Lightning country to get it. Of course we would need to start a treaty with them, as we aren't on all too friendly associations with them. Then there is the fact that there would be a need for political marriages. Then we would have to work out the fact that they didn't get the body they wanted with the Hyuuga incident, probably give them Hinata. Then there will be a year's wait until we can establish a good trade route with them, which would open up each country to travelers from the other. That will open up the possibility of getting your summon. But there would most likely be radicals who would not want our countries to be in agreement. That would probably shut down trade for a while, that way the radicals, who probably would use terrorist tactic, could be found while they travel to the other county to spread their terror. Some innocents might just get caught up in that, especially if they didn't get word. Then, after all that, we can fully walk up to the gates of Raigature and ask for the ability to summon tigers. Of course after that we would need to share some secret jutsu with them, which would need a whole other treaty. Then there is also the chance that Lightning's leaders would act radically to the appeal, thinking that the asking of country specific jutsu is an act of war. All together, trying to fulfill your little whimsy of summoning tigers would be a long process that you would be lucky if it took a decade." Kakashi ended his lecture with a tone that yelled he had ended it sarcastically happy.

Sakura gave him a cross look and said, "You could have just said it wasn't possible." Kakashi walked up to her with a manner that showed he still had that sarcastic happiness behind his mask. "I don't think you would have been satisfied with that. You would have just kept asking 'why' until I explained the whole matter, which was long enough, including this, for you to have already wrote your name in the damned scroll and summoned a damned dog." Kakashi's tone was grim as he ended it. Something Sakura immediately picked up on.

Sakura made quick work on writing her name, making sure that she didn't accidentally botch it. When that was finished she looked toward Kakashi for further instruction. She had a worriedly anxious look on her face that brought a smile to Kakashi's, though one wouldn't know. He looked down at her and went through the necessary hand signs, fast enough to blur the signs. Sakura blinked. Her face then turned into a struggled smile, she then asked timidly, "Can you go through them again Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi went through them again, faster than before. Sakura's smile stood struggled as she said; "Now you are the one wasting time." Kakashi bent down and met her eyes with his eye and said, "Then unlearn what your instructors taught you, there is such a thing as a stupid question."

Kakashi went through the hand signs once more, slow enough for Sakura to get them, and then some. Sakura went though the hand signs and slammed her palm on the ground, the blood still fresh enough to be used. A plume of smoke shot out of the ground, obscuring the summon from view. Inside of the plume, Sakura started to cough, the smoke getting into her lungs. "Yeah you'll get used to that." Kakashi said passively, already bored enough to pull out his old copy of Icha Icha Paradise.

A lump formed in Sakura's throat in anticipation, she hoped that she didn't botch any part of it. She went through it in her head, she got the hand-signs right, she spelled her name right, she put as much charka as she could in her hand, all of that had to summon something big.

The smoke dissipated and the figure's out line could be seen. The first thing Sakura seen was that it wasn't at all big, nor did it even look all that ready to fight. It had sleepy eyes, it's ears hung loosely at the sides of its head, and it didn't even look like it had the energy to pant.

"Ah, Sakura-chan, are we setting out to find Naruto again?" the dog said the pink-headed girl. The dog was Pakkun, Kakashi's preferred tracking ninja dog. Pakkun looked at Sakura with his tired eyes, he noticed she had an expression of desperation.

"Sorry, Pakkun," Kakashi began, still not looking from his book, "I was teaching Sakura to summon ninja dogs." Pakkun seemed to perk up, as though he had just been let in on a joke. "Oh I see, you were hoping for something big on the first try. Well don't worry, you get used to it, at least you didn't summon something unusable, like a newborn pup. Though I don't think you would have been all that mad, now would you?"

Sakura, whose face didn't change at all from her expression, suddenly found her eyes rolling back into her head and falling unconscious.

Kakashi looked up from his book for a second and went back, "She might have wasted all her chakra with that, summoning does take a lot out. After all, it is transporting another living being from one place to the next. We might have to utilize chakra conditioning." While Kakashi looked at his book, Pakkun pawed the unconscious girl, "Poor thing, she will wish she was dead by the end of the week."

A sadistic grin flashed behind Kakashi's mask as the sun traveled to the horizon.

* * *

The carriage bumped along the beaten path to their new location, the hilled land of the land of hills. Tayuya sarcastically remarked at how imaginative the name was. Naruto stood stoic on the carriage ride, though each bump caused him to jump.

Finally Tayuya couldn't take it anymore. She had kept it down in her throat, waiting to come out. She had to growl just to keep it down, but to no avail. "Carriage." She started out with, as calm as could be. Though things change, and can change rather abruptly, Tayuya demonstrated this. "What the f**k kind of carriage is this!" She yelled, scaring the goats that pulled them.

The man steering looked back, fear noticeable on his face. "M-ma'am, please, Kenichi-sama could not spare one of his caravan carriages, a daimyo has to see to getting the goods in his area to other places." Tayuya wasn't sated, "We are being pulled by a goat on something that is more wheelbarrow than anything like a carriage." The driver looked back again and said, "Please ma'am, a wheelbarrow has one wheel, this has two." Tayuya rubbed her temple, more frustrated than she could possibly show.

The goat pulled carriage made its way down the path, at a pace that possibly frustrated Tayuya more. "Could this cart go any faster?" The driver looked back, "Carriage ma'am, and if this is a pace you can't take then you aren't going to like it when we go up the hills." Naruto decided to speak up, directing his voice to Tayuya, "If you don't like it, we could just run there, Nagato-san pointed me in the direction where we are heading before I got you." Tayuya looked to Naruto, who held a disinterested gaze forward. He didn't even have the courtesy to meet her eyes. She sat back, deciding to not look at him either. "I don't want to run, you'll just pass me up anyway." she said, embarrassed by admitting her shortcoming. Naruto still didn't look at her, but suggested, "Why don't you ride on my back?" Tayuya felt the heat of her body go to her face. She shook it off and said, "I won't accept your charity." Though she said that, she told herself to accept if he asked again.

"Well then, I guess you should stop complaining." came to her ears.

She didn't know what the feeling was, but it felt like the contents of her body suddenly fell to the floor. She looked to him, only to find him nodding off. He didn't seem to regret the words. She would have slapped him if she didn't know that it wouldn't produce anything. All she could do was wait in silence as sleep hopefully came for her.

* * *

He ran through a heavy forest, maneuvering past the densely packed trees and the various foliage. His feet and palms clawed at the ground beneath his feet. His feet kicked plumes of dirt into the air. He clawed through the denser parts of the forest, slicing saplings and bushes. He cracked though low hanging branches and cut the roots of trees with his claws.

He came to a clearing, finding a figure there. The figure sat in front of a pond, softly humming. As soon as the figure came into view, he immediately stopped, and slowly walked to it. The humming continued, and kept him transfixed. Flowers bloomed around the figure. They seemed brighter than could normally be. The figure plucked one from the ground, and held it to its face. In its hand the flower seemed to grow brighter, to an extent to where it gave off its own light.

Naruto edged closer to the figure, hoping to get a glimpse of what seemed to be the most beautiful thing imaginable. Suddenly, the light dimmed around him. His vision started to blur as the figure was kidnapped right in front of his eyes.

He felt as though his heart was ripped from him. He ran out into the clearing where the figure used to be, his vision still stolen from him. He looked around, growling at the forces that kidnapped the figure. A lone shadow appeared out of the forest, a bloody head in its hand. The head hung form long hair; hair that had seemed to be glossy at once, but turned as dead as the head it was connected to.

Naruto felt as though he was cracked in half. He roared at the shadow, the heat in his body rising. His claws dug into the ground, he held his body straight in its feral stance.

He ran to the shadow and leaped to pounce. When he should have connected with the shadow, he passed though. Bewildered, he looked around, finding the shadow facing him from across the pond. The heat in his body rose higher.

Naruto ran around the pond, gaining speed as he kept his body low to the ground. When he made it to the shadow, he slashed at its legs with his claws. The shadow disappeared again, and he felt hotter.

Looking around once more, to find the shadow standing in the middle of the pond. Naruto hesitated, seeing something impossible. The shadow then lifted the head in its hand, palming it just at its chest. The shadow put its free hand into the neck of the head and started to pull out.

Naruto heard the contents splash gruesomely to the pond below.

Naruto ground his fangs in his mouth. His back arched as he prepared himself to run. He bolted to the shadow, ignoring the fact that it stood in the middle of the pond. As he ran, Naruto noticed the water below his hands and feet seemed solid, though there was still splashing as if he was running though a puddle. As he got closer to the figure, his vision got blurry again. Slowly his vision became white until he looked though a white void. A large fire burned inside of him.

* * *

Naruto woke up sweating. His brow was covered with beads of the liquid. He checked himself. His heartbeat was normal, as was his breathing; he didn't feel tense. The only thing that was different was the fact that he was hot beyond his belief. He took off his coat, and felt the breeze on his skin.

He took a look around. They sky was a black as night, the moon high. Hills sprawled around him. The driver slept.

His eyes focused on the driver, who snored a small bit with his head held back. Naruto clumped up the coat in his hand and threw it at the driver. "Who said that you were to be sleeping?" Naruto said; his voice irritated. The driver looked back suddenly, his eyes wide. "S-sorry Naruto-sama. I-I just thought I could rest my-" He started before he was cut off by Naruto's voice. "I don't want excuses! Just steer!" The driver looked forward with out any lip, something Naruto instilled onto him the first day they were on the road.

Three days they had been traveling on the cart, not including the first night. Three days of Tayuya complaining, the driver's snarky comments, which ceased to be, directed at him the first day, and all around uninteresting landscapes. Three days it was taking to arrive at a place that he knew he could have arrived at that night he left. He looked at Tayuya, who was sleeping. She was the reason the trip was taking so long. She complained the ride was a long bore, but then she refused to run when it was exceedingly faster then the goat cart. The woman was fickle; he didn't suggest her riding on his back because he knew she wouldn't accept.

He was frustrated beyond belief. He had gone for three days without so much as stretching a muscle. They were practically screaming to be used. His hand was begging to connect with some unfortunate person's face. Like the drunk back in the last village. He didn't seem to even expect Naruto react when he stole Naruto's wallet. Much good that did him. Naruto hoped that the man found himself screaming at his reflection the next day. If he didn't get any time to work, he was going to get the driver and...

"Sir?" came to Naruto's ears. It took a second for the blonde to respond, "What is it?" Naruto's voice was forced to not yell, Tayuya was still asleep next to him. The driver just pointed ahead, a large estate sat in front of his view. Naruto stared at it for a while before sitting back. They had arrived at Kenichi's estate.

* * *

Samurai guards patrolled the grounds, making rounds in short intervals. They were replaced quickly to keep the guards' attention focused. The patrols hardly took notice to them, as soon as they saw the driver the guards re-obtained their focus. The driver led Naruto and Tayuya down the path to the main house. The main house stood in the center of the complex. At either side of the door stood to burly samurai guards who seemed to be able to do more damage with their fists that the swords at their sides. The driver stopped them at the door and bowed to the guards. Tayuya did the same, thinking it was only polite. Naruto stood defiantly and waited for the others to stand.

The driver looked anxiously at Naruto and bit his lower lip. "Uh, Naruto-sama..." the driver began, "They won't let us in unless you bow." Naruto looked toward the driver and glared. The driver turned his face quickly to the ground.

Naruto didn't bow nor did his posture falter in any way. Tayuya got a little nervous and tried to make eye contact with him. She looked up at him, only to see him glaring down the guards. She didn't say any thing; she didn't think it would help.

Naruto got tired of waiting for the guards to let him through. Naruto walked to the door and held his hand out. A guard's hand grabbed his wrist to stop him.

Naruto grabbed the man's arm and pulled him down. Naruto's elbow met the man's face as he fell. The second guard quickly reached for his sword, but Naruto beat him to the draw. A Kunai sliced into the back to the man's left knee, severing the tendon. The man tried to balance himself on his other leg, but Naruto, with a well-placed punch, felled the man also.

Naruto was about to let himself into the door when he felt a blade pose itself onto his shoulders. The steel edge played with the skin on his shoulders. "Hold it right there assassin." came to Naruto's ears. Naruto turned around, the blade now posed at the base of his neck. Naruto seen a samurai guard facing him, the samurai's eyes watched him coldly. Naruto looked around, finding that one samurai held Tayuya captive, while the other guards massed around the foot of the building.

Naruto, ignoring the samurai with the blade holding his life, looked toward the one holding Tayuya. "Let her go." Naruto said in a monotone voice. The samurai shook his head, his eyes watching Naruto's hands.

Tayuya writhed in the samurai's grip, but not enough to provoke the man. She felt like a damsel in distress, for the second time in a few weeks. She hoped Naruto would do something to save them. She seen Naruto's fist grip his kunai. Diplomacy wasn't going to be the means.

Naruto looked from the samurai holding Tayuya to the one holding the blade. Naruto was about to lift his kunai when the door opened behind him.

"You caught an assassin!" came an aged voice to Naruto's ears. Without looking back Naruto said to the voice behind him, "Are you Kenichi-san?" There was a pause, and when the voice answered back it seemed shaken. "Y-yes, I am Kenichi."

Naruto, without taking his eyes off the samurai in front of him, said, "I am Uzumaki Naruto. I believe that Nagato-san spoke of me in a letter?" Naruto felt a pull at his shoulder and was forcefully turned around. He met a man with pepper gray hair that ran down his head much into the fashion of Jiraiya. He had beady gray eyes and a large mustache over a prickly chin. The man wore a snow-white kimono with silver-gray linings. The man was sickly skinny.

"You are the one who beat that spider creature?" Kenichi asked; the man was becoming excited. Naruto could tell as the man's arms were shaking on his shoulders. Naruto gazed into the man's eyes, which were filled with hope, and nodded. The man frailly released the blonde and walked into the house. Halfway in the man noticed that Naruto wasn't following him. He turned and gestured toward the blonde to come with him.

Naruto pointed to the samurai holding Tayuya. The man took a second to process just what was happening. After a minute he caught on and, with a voice that was despite his figure, yelled at the man to release to girl and get back to work. The samurai released Tayuya all to eagerly after Keniichi yelled.

The mass of samurai around the building quickly dissipated back into guarding formations and continued to march around the grounds.

Naruto waited for Tayuya to catch up. As she got up to him, she was surprised to hear him whisper to her, "I'm sorry." She stared at him with confusion as they walked deeper into the main building. "What is with you?" she asked, talking about his personality lately. Naruto looked at her with a slight expression of apology, though not as he would normally look. "I acted too hastily and got you captured. I'm sorry."

Tayuya looked at him with anger in her voice, "You are all over the place, do you know that?"

Naruto pondered what she was talking about as they walked into the main room of the building. They passed several more guards and door on their way. They passed several servants that looked as if their doom was imminent at first, but brightened up as Naruto and Tayuya passed. In fact, a few servants were following them tentatively. Kenichi yelled at them and got them to scatter.

Finally they reached the doors that led to the main room and Kenichi opened the door for the two. Naruto gestured for Tayuya to lead herself in and followed after. Kenichi closed the door behind him after he entered. Candles mainly lighted the room as the room was directly in the middle of the building. Despite the entire complex's castle look, the room had a homey feel to with a dinner table in the middle of the room. Naruto and Tayuya seated themselves at a side of the table while Kenichi sat at the head.

Kenichi folded his arms in front of him on the table and looked at the two. "I trust that the ride was pleasant?" he asked them. Before her mind even reacted to the comment, Naruto nudged Tayuya to be quiet. They both nodded in unison. "Good, I thought you two would be mad at the lack of luxury." Again before she could say anything, Naruto nudged Tayuya to be quiet. They shook their heads in unison. "Well other than that I guess we should get on with this."

Kenichi gave them a grave look before he spoke, "You see, I am at war." While Tayuya felt as though she could hardly breathe, Naruto outwardly grinned. "W-what do you mean at war?" Tayuya got out, anxiety shaking her voice. Tayuya kept her ears open as Kenichi continued. "I have ruled theses lands much as a daimyo for much of my life. You see the land of hills was very much divided though united before I was here and it was chaotic. I came and established trade, I gave unity, I made careers, and I gave care to my underlings. I treated the people as though they were my children, asking only a slight amount of their money for my service. Then, as a slap in my face, they call me corrupt. They say that the more one village pays me, the better the merchandise they get. They say that I pardon criminals that pay me enough. When I say that they lie, they say that I am committing perjury. Then, this group of renegades pops up and says that I need to be over thrown. They call themselves the 'Great Falcons' as they state that they are going to prey on my body. They send letters to me as a scare tactic, telling me what each of them would do if they got their hands on me. The latest letter," Kenichi drew out a small letter from his sleeve and hands it to Tayuya, the closer one to him. "They say they gained the sympathy of some ninja. And that they are now declaring war on me. They set the date, they specified the time, and they chose my means of death. They will behead me the day after tomorrow, noon. After I receive this letter, by divine providence, Nagato sends me the letter about you two and how you took on that monster. I needed you here and immediately. Will you accept?"

Without talking it out with Tayuya, Naruto stood up and looked down to the sitting Kenichi. His face was adorned with a toothy smirk. "Kenichi-san, that army of samurai you have outside won't get to so much as move a muscle with me on your side." Kenichi was beaming behind his mustache, until Tayuya interjected. "Wait! You have that army of samurai, why do you need us?" She felt Naruto glaring a hole through her head behind her.

"Samurai, though they may have the bushido code, can be weak." Kenichi began in a whispered tone, as if the samurai were listening though the door. "I used to have thousands of samurai at my disposal. Ever since this little charade started, they have slowly left. Thousands have become hundreds and I feel that in between now and then-"

"Kenichi! Kenichi let me in now!" was heard behind the door. Naruto and Tayuya turned to the door as Kenichi called the voice behind the door in. A samurai entered with a hard expression, as did many others. They formed around the table, filling the room. The first one was the one who addressed Kenichi. "We have come here to give you our resignations. We are only guards for thieves, not soldiers for war. We are not here to give up our lives." Kenichi stood up and glared at the man. "You would give up two days away from the battle? Fine go then, I don't need cowards on my forces."

The samurai grabbed Kenichi by the collar and looked at him, "You aren't my master anymore, you can't insult me." Kenichi merely barked back at the man, "Ha! Big words for a coward. Do you think you are a man threatening someone as old as me?" The samurai scoffed at Kenichi. "I am a man you old fool. This man sees no reason to die in a war. As do these men." The samurai gestured to the other men in the room, excluding Naruto. The samurai picked up Kenichi by his collar, "A man as corrupt as you should know-"

The man stopped talking as he felt a kunai on his back. He looked over his shoulder to spy Naruto looking up at him, Naruto's hand poised with the kunai. "What do you want kid?"

"My employer and I still have business to talk about. I don't want to have to traverse over here to just fight in a war." Naruto said, glaring at the man. The samurai released Kenichi and turned to face Naruto. He bent down to meet Naruto face to face. "Boy, you may think you are big, but I will show you just what you are. Ninja are nothing but bags full of tricks." Naruto grinned from ear to ear. Though his voice was the tone of a whisper, everyone in the room heard him say. "Little shits like you aren't able to stand up to seasoned warriors." The samurai picked Naruto up by his collar, enraged that the boy had the audacity to say something like that.

The samurai then looked into Naruto's eyes, finding them blood red. While his eyes distracted the samurai, Naruto jabbed him in the base of the neck. The samurai stood immobile for a second then fell to the ground wheezing. Naruto landed on his feet and looked around the room. "No more interruptions until I leave got it?" Naruto threatened. The samurai got the message and left in a hurry.

Naruto turned to Kenichi, who was staring at him, and asked, "So about room and board?" Kenichi took a moment to recover before he quickly nodded. "Yes, yes. You can stay here; I have many rooms available, with many different styles to them. You two can take your pick. As for pay-"

"All we need is another destination and something for food in between." Naruto told him. Kenichi seemed happy that Naruto had said that, he almost looked as if Naruto said free. "Good, then you are free to roam around the grounds for today and tomorrow."

With Kenichi's dismissal Tayuya walked to the door, until she noticed Naruto was not next to her. She turned around to find that the blonde was still standing before Kenichi, asking a question. "Kenichi-san, I want to know, is it all right if I attack the cowards that leave here?" Kenichi didn't give the question much thought and nodded. Naruto turned away from Kenichi with a smirk on his face. As he came up to Tayuya he whispered, "I know how I am going to pass the time."

* * *

The Naruto retrieval team moved quickly though the landscape. They were following a lead they obtained from a woman in the last village they had found. Naruto had left to the west of a village, though she was not sure how long ago. Kakashi was happy that they had finally found a lead. If anything it would allow them to find more leads, on the optimistic side, it could lead them to Naruto.

Kakashi at the lead of the group, with Shikamaru behind him. Neji and Choji took to their sides while Shino, Kiba and Lee ran behind to protect the girls. All except one ran to their destination. On Kakashi's back, Sakura laxly took hold, only gripping enough to not fall off. That was as much as she could muster. Her strength had disappeared the first day of Kakashi's chakra conditioning. She had to run with chakra-enhanced legs and perform the genjutsu Kakashi called out to his clone that ran backwards in front of her. She was out by the time an hour passed. That is when the 'real training' took place.

Kakashi her then try to conjure up genjutsu while staying on the side of a building in a village they passed by. Then she moved on to ninjutsu and had to run along the wall. When ever she got tired, she had to stop and meditate without so much as faltering on her breathing or falling asleep. This went on all day without breaks. The latest exercise was channeling all her chakra throughout her whole body until she passed out. The exercise was a success. Now her whole body felt like painful jelly. It was the only way she could describe it.

Kakashi suddenly stopped and turned to the group. The others stopped and waited for their superior to talk. "Okay, whose shift is it now?" The masked jonin inquired. He turned his head to Kiba, who said that he had already done it. Shikamaru too. Lee had done it four times now, and Kakashi, though his turn was over, didn't think Sakura liked the idea very much. If the violent gurgling that came out of her mouth whenever Lee said it was his turn indicated anything. Neji had already done it. Hinata had done it out of courtesy. Ino didn't want to. And as for Choji, he threatened to leave her if he had to do it once more. That left Shino, but Sakura would make that gurgling noise again. (A/N if you forgot Ten-ten isn't there)

Kakashi sighed and decided for them to draw straws. Shikamaru got the short stick. He muttered something close to 'it figures.' and took Sakura off of Kakashi's back. Before they set off again Shikamaru noticed Sakura's finger twitch. As did Kakashi.

"Conditioning time." Kakashi said with a singsong tone.

* * *

Naruto sat down in the room he chose in Kenichi's complex. The room was in the traditional Japanese style again, meaning they were missing beds. Although, the mats on the ground were enough for him.

He played with a small wooden case in his hands as he stared off into space. His thoughts were filled with the idea of fighting a one-man war. None of it was for glory, but for the sheer of emotion of fighting. The thought of battle, the release of tension, the smell of blood. All of it attracted his thoughts to war. No matter how small the army, as long as he carried the bloodiest blade at the end.

He continued to stare off into space and play with the case as Tayuya came into the room. She sat across the room from him and got her mat ready to lie on. She had said that she didn't want to stay in a room alone while men surrounded her, as most of the available rooms were in the samurai barracks. Naruto had offered to make sure the men wouldn't do anything, but Tayuya had said that he had instilled enough fear into the men.

For a day and a half Naruto had fought all defectors, making a bloody mess in the complex's medical ward. He had gotten the remaining warriors to pledge their allegiances to him and became a secondary master to them. Not one samurai since then had so much as fidgeted under the word war. But Naruto might have made punishment the new cringing word for them.

"How was your bath?" Naruto asked Tayuya, not moving from his spot. "It was okay, but I couldn't relax because of the fact any of the men could have been spying on me." came to his ears. He stopped playing with the case and turned towards her. "I could go out there and find out if any of them did." He proposed to her, with a slight desire in his eyes. He needed to fight again.

It was then that he caught sight of her. She was dressed in a snow-white kimono with her slightly damp hair falling about her face, framing it. Something about it made Naruto tense up. He felt as though he had to say something. "Why are you dressed like that?" He didn't know why but those didn't seem like the right words to him.

She was taken back by his comment. "I didn't have my clothes with me when I went into the bath. I didn't want to walk back her naked. Why, does it bother you?" she seemed to be picking up in anger as she spoke. "No, no that isn't what I mean...you are just easily picturable in white." Tayuya cocked her eyebrows in confusion.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked in genuine curiosity. Naruto felt himself tense up more. "Uh, nothing, nothing... so tomorrow?" he asked in desperation to change the subject. In fact he knew it was tomorrow, he was anticipating it. Tayuya knew that he knew also, but decided to accept the change in conversation. "Yep, tomorrow. I don't think I need to ask, but you think you are ready?" Tayuya asked Naruto, wanting to hear his answer as reassurance to herself.

"Of course I am ready. There won't be one left." he told her, displaying his teeth behind a sadistic grin. Tayuya smirked back at him, mostly as this was the most they had talked for a while.

Her smile died as she contemplated telling Naruto that she wanted to sit the battle out. She didn't like the idea of fighting very much without her only means to, her flute. She wasn't the best at ninjutsu or taijutsu, and her genjutsu abilities without her flute were best in a one to one fight. In a war she would need a way to hypnotize masses of people. Her flute was the only means.

As she was about to open her mouth, she spied the case in Naruto's hands. Curiosity got the better of her and she asked him about it before she even could consciously make herself to so. "What is in your hands?" she asked.

Naruto looked down at his hands before answering. His smile grew and lost its sadistic properties before he answered. "I had seen you looking at this before we left to the mining site. I thought it would be a nice present." He handed the case to her. She stared at it for a while, she wasn't used to gifts. But it didn't mean she didn't want it.

She snatched the case from his hands. She wondered just what was in it. She opened the case and felt a lump grow in her throat. Inside the case was the flute she stared at back in that weapons shop. She had only just remembered at that point. She turned toward Naruto with a slack-jawed expression. Her eyebrows arched inward before her next words came out. "So you were spying on me in there!"

Despite not expecting that reaction, Naruto was able to answer rather coolly, "You were staring a hole into it when I found you. I would have to be blind not to know you wanted it." Tayuya's face reddened as she found out that she had been staring so intently at it.

"Can you play it for me?" Naruto asked. Tayuya felt her face redden more, and felt as though she was boiling on the inside. Even after cooling herself down, she couldn't get rid of the lump in her throat. She gave him an apologetic expression and said, "I can't right now," She paused, "but you will hear it soon."

Naruto nodded to her, and rubbed his eyes. "Yeah I guess right now isn't good. I feel tired anyway." Tayuya turned away from him and looked down at the flute with a smile, "Yeah, anyone would be tired after what you did today. I think that was a record number of bones broken during a rather peaceful situation." Naruto chuckled at her teasing and lay on his mat.

"Good night Tayuya-chan." He called out sleepily to her.

"Good night Naruto." She answered back.

An hour after he had lain down to sleep, in the dead silence of night, Naruto heard a haunting melody play its way to his ears.

Chapter End

* * *

That was chapter 16 of Spiral Tailed. I hope you liked it.

I had tried to make Naruto seem a bit darker. I wanted to go a bit slower, but I got some reviews that told me I was going slow enough. But I think I did it a bit to quick and made Naruto abit out of character. If you noticed that tell me. I don't want to ruch something and make it seem like crap. Just about everything else in the world does enough of that. Tell me if anything seems rushed.

Side note: I think this was the most I wrote for a chapter. It counted seventeen pages on microsoft word.

Review story. Later.


	17. Boy Seeking Battle

Spiral Tailed ch 17

Okay, so...yeah. If you want excuses, they are at the bottom. So read first.

NOTE: This chapter might go under the knife for quality reasons, there will be an edit note in place of this if so.

* * *

Boy Seeking Battle

Sakura's body felt as though that it was stung by hundreds of bees. Her limbs were numb and inflamed from all the chakra she poured into them. She had exhausted all her chakra several times while trying to succeed at Kakashi's chakra conditioning. Kakashi explained that chakra was much like muscle matter; to make more, you must destroy it. Her chakra reserves had always been below par, but she thought excellent control would more than make up for the lack. But apparently, there are jutsu that will needed reserves of chakra larger than her own, summoning being one.

Then Kakashi assured her that chakra wasn't as bad to condition as muscles. It wouldn't take more that a solid week of work to get enough to have a workable summon and still have chakra left over. Though he did make a comment about her smaller reserves, saying that there is lot of work building from nothing.

It would be over quickly. She just couldn't slack off in the slightest. Kakashi made a sport of scaring her whenever she looked like she was going to give. It wasn't a big change either. All he did was look at her, pretend to smile behind that mask, and give her a reassuring talk that had the grimmest undertone she ever heard. It was like he threatened to do one thousand evil things to her, all while saying 'you can do it'. After the conditioning, she wanted to know how to do that. She could think of so many different uses for it.

"Well, it looks like you are having a nice rest." came a pseudo cheery voice to her. She turned her eye toward the source, for it was all she could do besides breathe. From her sprawled position on the ground, she saw Kakashi. Her teacher looked down to her. He crouched down and said, "My, you are lazy aren't you?" Sakura grunted at him, and immediately regretted it. If she had to guess, her teacher right now was flashing a crooked grin behind his mask.

"Well, you seemed to have gotten your energy back." He said with surprise in his voice, Sakura couldn't tell if he was acting or not. She fidgeted as little and regretted that too. "Good, good, you got your movement back too. Now time to-" while Kakashi started to talk, Sakura started to wriggle herself away from him. Inch by inch she mimicked a worm as best as she could. She was just unfortunate that worms were never known for their speed.

Kakashi's foot stopped Sakura's escape. Sakura fidgeted again as she looked up. With her teacher standing right above her, Sakura was amazed that anything could seem that tall. From her point of view, she felt like an ant about to get stomped upon. She fidgeted again, because the thought made her skin crawl. She had traded positions with a bug. "My, aren't you just the ball of energy today. I might start calling you Naruto if you keep it up." Kakashi mocked. "Well you seem to reenergized as much as you can, you slept like a log through the night," said her teacher.

Sakura wanted to call him a pervert for saying that, but her mouth was working against her. She had no idea if it was from fear or if she didn't have the energy for it. "Show me if you can sit up." Kakashi commanded. Sakura attempted the feat, mostly scared if she didn't do anything. Amazingly to her, she was able to sit up. She could even balance herself. "Now, at least show me you can move your right arm," he told her. She complied again, this time to see if she could actually do it. Again she amazed herself, she was able to move it in a full circle, even bend it. "Great! Now to move on," her teacher said.

Sakura's jaw dropped. In her amaze, she had forgotten the fact she was still conditioning. Her whole body started to tremble. She wondered what was going to happen next. All in all, she could admit that what Kakashi was doing was tame torture, it didn't open any wounds, but it was still torture. Her mind raced at the possibilities as to what he had in mind. Maybe she had to hold a comically sized weight off the side of a cliff with her chakra, while standing on the side of the cliff. She could possibly have to carry a weight while chakra running away from Kakashi's rabid ninja dogs. Maybe she had to fight somebody while focusing all her chakra around her. She knew it was going to be exhausting and/or sadistic. She could hardly move, yet she knew she was going to have to do something labor intensive.

A kunai fell before her. She looked at where it came from, to see Kakashi standing over her. His eyes were fierce. It took her a second, but she came upon a realization. Finally her mouth started to move and her voice came back in great volume. She screamed, "I have to f**king fight you! Who do you f**king think I am! F**king Naruto? I will never in a million f**king years-!" Her screaming was stopped when a hand moved itself over his mouth. "Thank you Neji." came Shikamaru's voice.

Sakura froze in fear, was she going to fight all of them? Her eyes moved over the campground, each one in her team were her giving her fierce looks. Sakura started to hyperventilate, Neji's hand inhibiting her from doing so. That could have contributed to her light-headed feeling. Suddenly Kakashi bent down and met Sakura face to face. With a whisper he said, "Now look what you've done Sakura. You woke them all up. I think, as an apology… you should buy us all the next dinner at a town." Suddenly Choji started cheering out that he wanted barbeque while the rest just nodded their heads in agreement.

Kakashi lifted up the kunai and handed it to her. Sakura took it and Neji's hand moved away. "You got a serious mouth on you," Kakashi told her. She then said, "But I don't want to fight you. I won't be able to win." Kakashi nodded to her, apparently agreeing. Kakashi chuckled a bit before saying, "Yeah, you won't. Not in a billion years. I don't know where you got a million from." Sakura glared at him for that, and silently vowed to knock him out in a fight within the decade. "And," he continued, "I don't want you to fight me. I want you to cut one finger on your right hand, then summon."

Sakura sat there silent. She didn't think that the nightmare was over. She really thought that she had to fight him. Mentally she mocked herself for jumping to conclusions. It was idiotic really. "Today." came Kakashi's monotone voice, ripping herself from her self-berating thoughts. She slit her thumb and went through the necessary hand-signs.

She lifted her hand up in the air just as the sun shone over the horizon, and dawn's light illuminated the sky.

* * *

Time was on his side; he had made his rounds and had time to his leisure. While running out of his master's land, he made his way to the towns for his favorite activity. He loved it whenever he was in the towns of humans. All the movement, the voices combining into one low sound that was very much like a quiet waterfall, the conversations, and the faces. He loved it all. Watching humans was a truly fascinating thing.

His captivation in them though had started only that month. He truly had seen why his peers would always mix with the humans during their time away from Inari. The humans may have been a destructive force on the land that he loved, but what they built in its place. It was absolutely amazing; he would never see anything like it naturally occur.

He hopped from rooftop to rooftop, not taking the form of a human. His soft paws scratched the surface of one roof as he marveled at its stability. It was as solid as the ground he had traversed for so long. It was truly a sight to see. But his captivation didn't allow folly to slip passed his eyes.

He had always known that humans had did this, but this was the first time he had seen it. From his view on the rooftop, he had seen a group of men in an alley. Big, burly men surrounded one man who looked nervously about the others. He tried to break passed the men, but their circle was too tight and too strong. He was knocked back. The one man who directly faced the confined one took out a weapon, a small dagger, no bigger than a hand from the bottom of the palm to the tip of the middle finger. The confined man started to panic and threw something at the armed man.

The armed one looked at the item that the confined man threw. It was money, if one had to guess; it seemed like a substantial sum of money. The armed man nodded to the confined man, who looked relived. The confined man started to walk away, to find the group of men around him would not let him through. The armed man inched closer to the man confined. He raised his dagger into the sky and brought it down, cleaving the confined one's face. The body stood for a while before it dropped, dead. Those bystanders who had actually taken notice to the killing just turned their heads.

Naruto shook his head. He wondered what was so special about that metal that made humans kill each other for it. He pondered about it for a while. Could it have just been that humans just hated each other? If the town landscape that he once knew as a part of a glorious field filled with wild life and various flowers was an indication, maybe the humans hated everything.

* * *

Naruto's back ached as he sat up from his sleep. The floor wasn't as nice as a good bed, but it would suffice for the time being. He didn't need lavish commodities that his current employer had; he lived without for the longest time. Didn't mean a little indulgence was bad, just not all that necessary.

He stretched his arms about his sides. It felt so good to do so that Naruto couldn't help but smile. He laid his arm back at his sides and held his position for a while. He may have been awake, but that didn't stop him from being sleepy when he first woke up.

Realization dawned on him; he knew what the day would bring. A small smile crept on his face. He lifted his right hand to meet his face. He tightened it into a fist, trying to gain thought of what would happen. A small army would erupt form behind the complex's wall. There would be infantry-level soldiers along with ninja, fighting around and about him. He would tear all in his path.

He didn't know why but ever since the fight in the quarry, he had more blood lust. He had become angry and short tempered.

His new lightning quick anger was shown through his punishment of that drunk. Though the man deserved it with his audacity to steal from Naruto no Kyūbi, Naruto was angry with himself for breaking the drunk for something as simple as a wallet. Naruto wondered when he had become greedy like that. He wasn't even sure he carried that much with him that day. He kept the money earned at the room they had at the inn.

Naruto took out his wallet, curious at just what was that important in the container. He opened it with a click, and right at the surface of the metal and paper it lay. He took it out, he had forgotten all about it. A small smile found itself upon his face.

He had gotten it from the quarry the same day the man tried to steal the wallet. Maybe that was why he was so angry when the drunk took it. Naruto slowly rubbed his thumb about it. It was still rough; he needed to have it cut. Then it would be ready.

Naruto heard a snort form the sleeping Tayuya and put the object back into his wallet. He turned to look at her, to find she still slept soundly. He couldn't help but note that she looked peaceful in her sleep.

Naruto stood up and stretched his legs for a second. With little more than a huff he moved to the door. He didn't know what he was going to do until noon.

The sun shone in his eyes as it slowly made its way from the horizon.

Behind him, he heard the shuffling of a moving body. "Naruto?" he heard from behind him. "Yeah?" he called back to Tayuya. She was sitting up from her mat, her eyes still evidently sleepy. She yawned before speaking up, "What's going on? Where are you going?" she said with a perplexed look.

Naruto stood for a second, "I am going to the nearest town. I want to see if there is anything I can do to pass the time." Tayuya stared at him for a bit before she said, "You were going to leave without me, weren't you?"

Naruto stood for a second while he looked her straight in the eye. He nodded to her, which gained a sigh. "I thought you were going to stay asleep for a while," he admitted. Tayuya's expression fell a bit as he said that, more so when he finished.

She then lay down, facing away from him, and said, "Fine, just be back a least three hours before noon." Naruto stood for a second, looking down at her, before he left. He didn't want to leave abruptly, but he also had something to do.

As Naruto leaped over the complex's walls, he fished out his wallet, and took what was in it out again. He didn't know the value of it, but he hoped it would make a great gift.

* * *

Naruto walked into a village near by Kenichi's complex. He noticed it was deafly quiet. It may have been early morning, but that didn't excuse traders and merchants opening shop. Naruto scratched the back of his head; he hoped what he was looking for would be opened. Naruto scanned the building he passed, losing hope as he found that every shop he passed was closed. It only made him worry more.

Just as hope was failing him, he turned a corner and came upon just the building he wanted to find. Inside the building stood a man, standing over work out of Naruto's view. The man turned suddenly as Naruto came in the shop, the little bell atop the doorway alerting the man of Naruto's presence.

"What do you want?" the man said dryly, "The smithy is closed today." With an angered grunt the man turned away from Naruto as a dismissal. Naruto quickly picked up on the fact the man didn't want him there and then pressed the man. "Why?" he said, his tone like that of rock. The man turned around once more this time with a scowl and walked up to Naruto, probably to iterate the fact he towered over the boy.

The man looked like the stereotypical black smith. He was large, his forearms probably encasing most of the muscle on his body. He had a wooly beard falling about his gut, thick enough to be mistaken for a black sheep latched onto his chin. Despite the gut the man had on him, it was obvious that the man wasn't going to be some pushover.

Despite all that Naruto wasn't scared in the slightest. He didn't want to cause unnecessary alarm, and he needed the services of the man, so he quietly said with a glare, "I'll pay you so what does it matter?" The smithy leaned down, meeting Naruto at eye level. With a disinterested expression the man asked Naruto, "Are you from here boy?" Naruto shook his head, "No, I'm just passing through." Naruto held a glare at the man, more so when the man snorted in his face, much like a bull.

"Kid, I can't give you the entire story, so settle for this: Today, there is nothing that would get me to work for you. Something important will happen, and I will be busy from about nine, to the rest of the day." The man said, talking down to Naruto, even talking slow. Naruto held his anger; he wanted to break the man for the disrespect. Alas, he needed the man's services. Through clenched teeth, Naruto addressed the man, "Right now it is about five. It is a pretty simple job. It won't take long. I will pay well." It took a lot of will to keep the smile on his face and arms at his sides.

"What did I say boy? There is nothing that-," the man was cut off at the last second when Naruto took out a scroll and summoned up a river of money. The man's expression changed completely. His small eyes glowed with light as the money fell to the ground. The man keeled down and scooped up some of the money and let it trickle out of his hands. He looked up, his expression forcefully changed back into the one he held before. "N-now what kind of job are we talking about here?" the man said with a shaky voice. The man gulped, "Maybe I can fit into my schedule."

Naruto resisted the urge to kick the man, he was disgusted but he got what he wanted. He knew extra money like this would come in handy. Naruto looked down one the man, who was still keeling on the floor, and took out his wallet. He reached in and pulled out the hunk of crystal it carried. The crystal carried a light yellow tint. It still wasn't cut properly, which was the reason that he took it to the man.

The man took from Naruto with his large hand and gave it a good look. Confusion fell over him as he gazed upon it. "This is a plain crystal, not very pure, but with a degree of sulfur in it, but not even a cautionary abundance." the man muttered to himself. He looked at Naruto with a cocked eyebrow and said, "You made a fuss over this? Yeah, when you said it wouldn't take very long you were right. I'd say about two hours tops. But I do have some work lined up that is a bit more urgent. I'll get finished with it in about hour or two though…." The man continued to mutter on while Naruto grew impatient. If the man took any longer to decide, he might have to give the man some forceful incentive.

"Yeah, yeah, this will be ready for you by eight, eight-thirty if I take my time," the man said with a smirk. Naruto nodded and asked the man, "How much would it be?" The man stiffened up at the question. He looked down at Naruto with a bead of sweat flowing down his face. With a nervous expression the man said, "Well due to circumstances, you know, the shop actually being closed and with my time table being pushed a bit I think that the mark up would give me just about all the money."

Naruto nodded with a disgruntled expression, if the man wanted it all he could have said something. Naruto was about to walk out when the man called out. "Hey, you didn't tell me how you wanted it cut." Naruto turned around, he didn't really think about the shape that much. He put a little thought into it and got an idea. He reached into his coat and pulled out the chakra crystal that Tsunade had given him.

"I want it like this," he said. The man eyed the crystal and nodded. "Okay," the man began, "I think it will be ready about eight thirty. I'll leave it on the counter after I finish for you to pick up. Don't forget, and kid…I think you shouldn't go anywhere north after you pick this up." With that the man turned and left.

Naruto mentally noted that Kenichi's complex was located north.

Naruto walked out of the smithy; only to nearly walk into a man running frantically passed him. The blonde looked at the man's retreating form. The man was nervous, looking around him anxiously. Attached to the man's hip was a satchel, with documents barely showing out of the top. Naruto could tell the man was a courier, and if what he was thinking about the village was right, then he knew what the courier was for.

He followed the courier to a building that looked like it would belong to whoever would regulate what happened in the village. Silently sneaking in, and following the courier to a room. Hiding just out of sight as the courier went in, speaking to whoever was in the room.

"Uh, sir, I have grave news." The courier said to those who were in the room.

"What is it?" came another voice from in the room.

The shuffling of paper was heard and a silence endured afterward. The moment of silence was cut by a moaning chuckle. "Grave news? I don't see grave news here, all I see is conformation that that bastard Kenichi has finally started to take us seriously."

There was another pause before the voice spoke up again, "Two ninja won't mean a thing in front of a force of two hundred samurai and twenty other ninja. With our cause slowly bringing in his men, Kenichi is desperate, and he doesn't want to fall to us, so he got a last resort. Insignificant."

* * *

Tayuya watched as a battalion of samurai went through drills, preparing for the upcoming battle. They switched from one stance to the next, droning out one unified chant. Impressed would be a word for her to describe the event, if she didn't see the dedication and unity the sound army practiced with their drills.

Every single man and woman in that army striving for their respective lives and for the respect of their leader, Orochimaru, as they went through their forms. Call Orochimaru what you will, he knew how to inspire an army. The mixture of fear and respect caused a great many of their forces to look up to the man. Not many other men could make each and every person in their army scared of any little mistake in form and the death that would follow.

A loud whistle from the superior ranking officer pulled Tayuya from her thoughts. "Alright," the man in full gear yelled, "today each of you has a duty, to protect the grounds of Kenichi-sama's castle from the onslaught of the Great Falcon's army and to push back their forces, even at the risk of your own life. Understand?" A loud cheer answered the man. The superior then loudly commanded the force to disperse and make personal preparations for the battle.

The one thing that the army of samurai had over the sound army was the unwavering calm in the threat of battle. Before the attack on Konoha, the sound army was jittery and restless, without their leader looking over them. Their resolve was nothing without Orochimaru, even with the Four watching over the preparations before taking their posts with their master. Even the Four were nothing but a mess of nerves until they were in the vicinity of their master.

Yet, here each and every samurai warrior was steadfast in diligence and resolve. Maybe Orochimaru failed in certain circumstances with his army.

Suddenly a samurai ran up to her and kneeled down in front of her. "Tayuya-san, it seem as though Naruto-sama has returned and wishes to speak with you." The samurai then stood up and left Tayuya standing where she was. She knitted her brows into a scowl and whispered under her breath, "And where exactly is he?"

It took Tayuya all of ten minutes to find out that Naruto was back in the room they shared for the last couple of nights. She pulled open the sliding door and as soon as she seen that blonde mop, she exploded, "And where exactly did you go for the entire morning?" It caused a smirk to appear on her face when she noticed that the blonde boy flinched.

"I-uh- I came back when you said, I mean it is nine…right?" The boys face was red and he looked unsure of himself. Tayuya regarded this with a raised eyebrow then let it go, he hadn't seemed himself for a while now, so the nervousness wasn't that strange.

"I was more or less asking why you had to leave, and weren't going to tell me anything?" She crossed her arms as she said this, trying to seem aloof, though utterly failing to keep her voice in line. Naruto's eye looked at anywhere but her for a second as his face got a bit redder. "R-right well, I got a gift made for you." His voice came out slow, as if trying to remain level through it all, it didn't.

Tayuya stood for a moment, her face only reading surprise on it, much to her chagrin. Suddenly she noticed that the blonde had his hands behind his back. "Y-you like yellow, right?" he said mostly to reassure himself. He then pulled his hand, curled up in a fist, from behind his back and held it in front of him. He loosened up his hand and a cut yellow crystal fell out, only to be caught from falling by the string that Naruto held in his hand.

"I-uh I found this what digging with Nagato-san, and well you said you liked yellow so I thought I would have it cut and…and, well," Naruto tried to explain himself, only to stumble over his words. Tayuya walked up to him and looked at the crystal, yellow as if containing sulfur, yet so clear as if it was a gem.

Meanwhile, Naruto, who hadn't had the most experience in giving, or receiving, gifts was scared the way she appraised it. It made him nervous. Would she not like it? Was it not cut right?

When he was suddenly hugged, he couldn't process what was happening. Tayuya was hugging him and he was just standing there, mind fuzzy and blank.

On Tayuya's end, even though she was ticked off that he didn't react to her hug, a part of herself couldn't really care. The flute he gave her, though something she wanted so terribly, he got it because he seen that she wanted it. The crystal though, well it was more a gift from him than a gift for her, and though it sounded so entirely sappy she liked it a lot because of that. Still, she would be furious if she found out how much it cost to cut the thing.

Then Naruto fainted, his face blue as if he wasn't breathing and finally his body relinquished that control of that function, along with others, from him. Looking down on the blonde, with his mouth open and drooling, a red tint on his face despite the blueness, Tayuya let out a chuckle. She was damn glad that even though Naruto fought a spider monster, and is ready to fight an army today, that she had the power to do that to him, it was enough to give her a head-trip. It was enough to give her a light airy head-trip.

* * *

Silence reigned over the samurai as they watched the north wall, Naruto, after waking out from his brief stint with unconsciousness, informed Kenichi that he had over heard a battle plan while in the town south of the complex, the army was going to flank the castle after sending a small force to attack the south walls. In response, the south walls were to be protected by a smaller force of samurai who stood confidently at the gate, which was left open. The smaller force and open gate was a ploy to confuse the Great Falcons, making them vulnerable, even if they anticipated a trap. Naruto and Tayuya would stand on the south end, behind the large samurai force and strike the Great Falcons swiftly, without notice. It helped that Naruto had a few clones transformed into the visage of samurai to supplement the force.

It was fifteen minutes to noon, the sun rising in the sky, almost hitting the midway point, making the shadows seem near nonexistent. Donned in full armor, helms on their head, the battle masks fixed in to the helms of the elites, the northern force practiced the art of deception. They had brothers in arms standing outside, in meager armor, falling into formless drills and forced drunken balance. Meanwhile, the armored forces, the majority force, were hiding in the buildings, silent and steady. Mouths dry and skin moist, the men cursed the sun's heat and the tension. Some men found solace in a nameless deity, founded by them before the threat of battle. Others questioned the reasoning of their leader, the threat of death making a warrior the pacifist.

Five minutes to noon, some felt the tension on their backs like weights and boulders, feeling their back stoop and crack under pressure. The nagging quiet made others curse the lack of sound as the foreshadowing of their death. Helms and battle masks had to be removed to remove the sweat from the brow, and then hastily put back on for fear of surprise attack. The thump of the heart could be felt throughout the body, the steady beat like that of a war drum, the boom of thunder, the shake of a steady quake. Hands were braced on weapons, quivering at the tension, the blood rushing out of the limb, making it feel numb. Gritting teeth numbing the jaw, stress and soreness following.

One minute to noon, Uzumaki Naruto stood in front of the force, his face calm, his eyes neutral and his stance relaxed. The calmness of Naruto, instead of rubbing off and making the men feel calm and collected as well, did nothing but disturb the samurai. Even Tayuya found his calm to be odd and unnerving. Only a war hero, or a warmonger was this calm before a battle. Tayuya felt it was more disturbing that she couldn't tell where Naruto fell.

Noon came, and with it a roar of a unified battle cry from the south, the clang of metal ringing soon after. The samurai readied themselves, hands poised on their katana. Prayers followed, breaking the silence in the room, putting everyone on end.

Suddenly there was an explosion heard from the north wall, the smell of sulfur and oil rushing into the senses. Naruto held up his hand, unconscious of the tension, unconscious of the world. When battle cries were heard coming from the north wall, Naruto waved his hand, signaling the samurai to move.

With a roar that shred any doubt and stress, the legion of samurai charged out of the building, along with their brethren from the other buildings. Naruto turned to Tayuya and looked at her, Tayuya looking back. Tayuya was shocked to find a soft smile on Naruto's face.

"You ready Tayuya-chan?" Naruto's voice was jovial and bright. Tayuya paused for a second, her mouth agape, before her expression matched Naruto's expression, though a little harder.

"Sure, this will be easy now that I have a flute again. An army of samurai won't be a fucking match for me, and the ninja, we'll split them, got it?"

With Naruto nodding, Tayuya jumped out of the building, cutting a stray samurai warrior through the neck. Naruto sighed contentedly at her retreating form. Slowly a smirk played its way on his mouth, its turn cruel. "Geez, it is getting hot." His comment wasn't meant for anyone, but the air around him seemed to shudder at his words. With a heat welling up in his body Naruto charged out and slashed down three Great Falcon samurai with Tsume Akuma.

* * *

He thought the force would have been smaller, easier to surprise, agitated, scared, and somber. That wasn't what he found as he gazed through the wall of Kenichi's fortress castle. The expected more artillery, they expected an army of cowards, they anticipated surrender. He bit his lip as he saw the battle. Prime warriors, two words that expressed the opposing force. They ripped his men to pieces.

He watched on as two samurai, one of his men and the other Kenichi's, matched blows with their katana. His fought frantically, the slashes and dodges more dramatic than practical. Then, fantastically, his pushed back Kenichi's man then slammed the man to the floor with the blunt end of the Katana. His poised a strike that would land its mark in the heart of Kenichi's man.

Then his man was stabbed though the chest by Kenichi's warrior, who was still lying calmly on the ground.

He saw more instances of battle, much of them with the same ultimate end. Roars and battle cries cut short, gone with nothing more than a grunt. Limbs lost, the blood splattering on the opposing force, making them look akin to demons and monsters. Cries of agony and sheer pain, carried with such feeling that those who heard them could feel the hot pain of the men's wounds.

Most of his men fell before him, and he was struck by fear, the fear of pain, the fear of dying, the fear of the void of death.

A hand fell upon him and a woman's voice whispered in his ear, "Oh, no, no master, you are paying us for this little battle of yours, you aren't going to run away without telling us where the money is." The knife lightly prodding his back made his say first thing to pop in his mouth, the truth.

"I don't have the money I promised you!" The knife in his back was suddenly at his neck, the blade poised to slash his throat. He could feel the breath of the ninja on the back of his neck as she spoke to him; her breath was icy cold.

"Give me a reason to not cut your neck right now." the ninja seethed. The knife pressed deeper on his skin, he could feel the wind in the forming cut. It felt cold; the wind was coldest where the blade was cutting into his throat.

He could only stammer for the longest time, his voice dying each time it was birthed in his throat. He was too frightened to breathe, and his lungs burned in his chest because of it. Suddenly the ninja behind him pushed the blade harder into his throat without cutting too deeply in his neck.

"Answer me!" came her enraged voice.

"I was going to pay you with the money we should have gotten from looting Kenichi's place. The payment was for a battle I was certain we would win. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I only wanted to free my peop-"

With a thud, the man fell to the ground, the grass below him being painted in blood. As the color faded from the man's eyes and skin, the ninja stood over him, watching the battle happening in the complex's walls.

She watched as her men battled with a lone blond kid.

* * *

Naruto had been cutting through multitudes of samurai before he happened upon six of the twenty ninja. He looked around to see that almost all of the Great Falcons army had been decimated in battle and that Kenichi's samurai had few deaths. It was most likely that most of the samurai of the Great Falcons were in reality farmers, trained to take on Kenichi's samurai. None of the Great Falcons really stood a chance then.

Even with the lack of experience though, it was somehow gratifying to kill them. Naruto didn't have time to dwell on that thought before the ninja were upon him. Two of them rushed Naruto with little form or preparation. Exactly what he would have done, except he had a reputation of being unpredictable. He was easily able to block the punches that they had ready for him, before flipping both of them behind him while crushing their hands with chakra. One tried to surprise him from behind while he dealt with the first two but he sidestepped the man and clawed his gut with Tsume Akuma.

Another ninja came at him with a blade ready to cut open Naruto's throat, but Naruto switched himself with one that had yet to attack him yet. The ninja with the blade was surprised as his comrade fell to the floor but had little time to react as his back was slashed. Naruto found that the first two that attacked him started to get up, but took care of them with kunai after resealing the claw on his left.

Naruto looked at the last one, a small man, a few inches taller than Naruto himself. The man was shaking uncontrollably, his eyes filled with fear. Naruto walked to the man, who tried to back away from him before falling to the ground. Naruto stepped closer to the man before he stood over the man. The man's whimpers and silent pleas were muffled by his hands, which were held over his face. Naruto picked up the man by his collar, the man exclaiming in terror as he looked into Naruto's eyes.

"Don't worry you get to live." The simple words seemed to shock the man. A cruel and twisted smirk scrawled itself on Naruto's face. "Just make sure to spread the name, Naruto no Kyūbi around. Tell them what happened."

When he finished, Naruto grabbed the man's right arm and crushed it with chakra, the appendage falling limp below the elbow. The man's cry of agony rang out into the midday sky. Naruto dropped the man on the ground and commanded the man to run. Considering the broken limb, the man was able to get on his feet quickly and run off.

With the man running into the distance, Naruto took a deep breath and surveyed the rest of the battle, the samurai seemed to be taking on four ninja, his other half of the division that Tayuya came up with, while Tayuya was slowly waking past her half, minus one, who formed into a line and seemed to be paralyzed in place. Tayuya then systematically stuck kunai in the ninjas' hearts, moving down the line, and killing one after another.

As Naruto jumped to fight the rest of his half, he couldn't help but think that genjutsu was frightening. The thought of not having control of one's body was unsettling to Naruto. For a second, he resented Tayuya's ability to use genjutsu.

* * *

The boy was skilled, she could give him that, taking on six chuunin and come out unscathed was an accomplishment not easily scoffed toward. She was lucky that she didn't move into the battle immediately like the others.

In her amaze, as the boy finished and looked around the battle, she followed his gaze and found another shock. The firebrand of the sound four was still alive, her master would like to hear this news. Orochimaru-sama might even spare her for losing the men she had been leading.

* * *

A loud roar pierced the air, a chant of men victorious, a call to the heavens exclaiming who took victory under the sun. Euphoria took and the roar got louder and the warriors more frantic and rhythmic in their cheer. The war drum sounded in each of their throats, beating a mighty sound into the sky.

The call droned far and wide, falling down the hills into the other villages, keeping others from acting on the same idea. Battle would be met with victory and the victor shall be Kenichi. Any remnants of the Great Falcon's ideals died that day, killing the will of the sympathizers, leaving them to the weight on their backs.

Weapons raised above their heads, with the blood of their fallen enemies dripping off the blades. Donned armor, which was once clean and flawless, now carried the spilled blood and fluids of the dead. The bloodied and frenzied figures cheered, even as mangled bodies, bisected and punctured lay at their feet.

* * *

Naruto and Tayuya stood in front of Kenichi, the celebration had died only a little earlier the soldier calm and their veins running normally. Hot armor left lying on the ground, the owners gone to rest as the spirit of battle dimmed.

"I can't say that I owe you two for what you have done in battle, but it is obvious that my men would have stood at my side had it not been for the… morale boost that you gave them Naruto-san." Kenichi reached behind his back, retrieving a letter. "But, it is also obvious that both of you took on multiple opponents, neither of you breaking a sweat. Skill is admired, and a commodity. As with that, I wish to… hire you, as partners of a much larger enterprise that some close friends and I have in mind. I assure you that all of it will be legal."

Naruto stood there, surveying the man, a hard expression on his face, "Can't say I am all that interested." He turned to Tayuya with his eyebrow arched, "Are you interested Tayuya-chan?"

Tayuya turned to Naruto, shaking her head. Another job she could do with, a month long job she could also deal with, what this sounded like was much longer. The secretiveness of Kenichi also didn't help with persuading her.

"Ah, well hold on, give it time. Here, this letter encloses the entire details of what I am proposing. Read it, stew over the details. If, in a month's time you choose to accept or decline, there will be no skin of mine, or my friends', teeth."

Naruto took the letter, sealed closed by normal wax, with a decorative stamp seal on it. He turned the letter in his hand, inspecting it. Nothing stood out about it, nothing out of the ordinary and nothing of even pausing value.

"In the foot hills of the land of rivers, northeast of Konoha, you will find a nice resort, the anseijiraba (1), with natural hot springs and a quaint village there. You are welcome to stay there if you want, fully paid, to think this over. After a month and one week, someone will contact you about the offer; you are welcome to tell them your answer."

Naruto looked at Kenichi, over the letter he continued to inspect, his eyebrows displaying mild surprise; he looked at Tayuya, who answered him with a nod. The deal sounded too good to pass up.

"Fine, you got yourself a deal, we will think it over while we're there, I haven't read it yet so I can't say I will accept it, but I will give it as much thought as I can while I am there."

Kenichi's face picked up, his beady eyes somehow lighting up as well. "Good, good. I want to say that this could very well be the beginning of something great. Shall I give you a carriage to ride there? It could very well take up a week and a half, but I can promise a smoother ride this time."

Naruto backed up a bit, a smile on his face, "No, you don't have to, I think I got a faster way." Naruto looked back at Tayuya, to see her face contorted in confusion.

Kenichi was about to speak up when Naruto suddenly picked up Tayuya and rushed off, as light dust cloud picking up after him.

As the blonde and redhead disappeared behind his walls, he heard the girls yell out, "What the fuck? You could have fucking warned me!"

Chapter End

* * *

Chapter 17 end

(1) Anseijiraba – The resting mule. As always the translation is loose.

Okay, so here we go. First, I know it has almost been two years. This wasn't my plan on update speed, and I can't give you back precious hours waiting, or the will you had given up in this story. All I can say is sorry, and hope you tell me it is okay. Most of you probably have given up on the idea of updates happening, I can't give the solace of knowing. I would have to know first.

That was a lot shorter than what I thought it would be. Uh, by the by, that was only the apology.

The reasons, procrastination, I got to the point where I viewed this as work, and the level of inspiration was low for the longest time on this story. Lack of outer inspiration, I am mostly inspired by other works, what I see on this site sometimes helps me, but, even if my stories aren't the epitome of quality, I like to read quality works, and I found a lot of stagnation in what I read. Nothing bad, nothing good, all just level in quality. Didn't find inspiration in those works. I found some I liked, but that brought inspiration for different premises and prompts. I don't want to abandon this for a different multichapter work. Neither this nor Ordeals of a Yokai. The source material getting bland for me, I started to not like the direction of the Naruto series, and as such lost interest in Naruto and writing about Naruto. I somehow reagained the ability to write about the series, but gave up on the series itself very recently. I have no knowledge of the series past the point of the bijuu names (hopefully that was spoiler free and more of a teaser). It was happenings left and right that kept me away from the stories with a little added dread. The dread is gone, can't say what will happen in the future, but as long as nothing too bad happens I will try to write.

That was also shorter than what I expected. Then again I left out a bit more reasons, just because they are same-y in the effect they had on me.

Uh, I will try to answer any other questions you have in any reviews you might leave.

Also, while I am still a Naruto/Tayuya fan, I have started to get an interest in the Naruto/Fuu pairing. But the archive is so small in there if only someone (NOT ME) could make it bigger with good stories. (hint* hint* nudge* nudge* wink* wink*)

One last thing, I have a question to any returning fans, did this chapter go anywhere quality wise? ex. up, down, sideways, too the moon. Give me a bit of feedback on that. Review. Later.


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